Only two days after the Dow smashed the record for the largest one day gains in history, it once again continues its downward spiral and recorded the second largest loss in history with a 733 point drop at the closing bell today. The Nasdaq plummeted 8.47%, while the S&P experienced the greatest percentage reduction of the day by dropping 9.03%. The September retail sales report was released today and helped drive this bearish market further into the ground.September’s retail report gave investor’s a reality check that this recessionary period is still upon us. The retail industry accounts for two thirds of our nation’s GDP. Anytime bad news surfaces about this topic investors react to take this news into consideration. The estimated retail consensus was that consumers spent 0.6% less in September than they did in August. In actuality, consumers spent less than expected and spending saw a decrease of 1.2% in September. This is the third consecutive month that the retail sales’ actual report was worse than expected, and this month likely proves that the U.S. economy will see the first decline in consumer spending in 17 years.
Do not to see another rate cut by the Federal Reserve to help try and stimulate the economy. Although inflationary issues don’t seem to bother policy makers, September’s Produce Pricing Index was released and proved that inflation is starting to become a bigger problem. Wall Street was expecting a 0.2% increase in non-food and energy pricing levels. The actual report showed a 0.4% increase in price levels from August to September.
Crude oil also followed suit with the markets and dropped below $75 for the first time in 14 months due to OPEC’s forecasted drop in demand. At the market’s close, sweet crude was trading down 5.67% on the day to settle at $74.14.
The Asian markets took a hit, but didn’t see as big of a decrease as the U.S. market today. The Hang Seng ended down 4.96% on the day, while the Nikkei actually increased 1.1%. The FTSE and other European markets also closed in the red at the end of trading hours. The FTSE dropped 7.16%, the DAX fell 6.49%, and the CAC lost 6.82%.
eBay (EBAY: 15.33, -2.41 (-13.59%)) posted earnings after the bell today. The Street was looking for $0.41 EPS, but eBay beat the estimate by $0.04 with an EPS of $0.45. EBay lowered its 2008 fourth quarter projections by $0.07 from $0.47 to $0.39-0.41 earnings per share.
That’s all for today, catch me tomorrow, same time, same place, for the Bullish Bankers’ Daily Market Recap. 
