Wall Street ends worst quarter since 2008 meltdown
By Edward Krudy
NEW YORK | Fri Sep 30, 2011 4:36pm EDT
(Reuters) – Stocks ended their worst quarter since the depths of the 2008 credit crisis, crippled by Europe’s debt debacle, a U.S. credit downgrade and a sputtering global economy.
A steep slide on Friday closed out a fifth month of losses as weak economic data from China sparked fears of a global economic slowdown while investment bank Morgan Stanley plummeted on concerns about its exposure to European banks.
The S&P 500 index has lost more than 14 percent this quarter and over 7 percent in September alone. As of Thursday, Wall Street’s deep downturn in the third quarter wiped out $2.2 trillion of the Wiltshire 5000 index — the broadest measure of U.S. stocks.
“Why is the market so soft and so weak? Because ’08 is still fresh in people’s memories,” said Joseph Mazzella, a senior trader at Knight Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey.
via Wall Street ends worst quarter since 2008 meltdown | Reuters.