Small U.S. Stocks Fall; Russell 2000 Index Enters `Bear Market'

Small U.S. Stocks Fall; Russell 2000 Index Enters `Bear Market'

www.bloomberg.com

Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Small U.S. companies dropped, sending the Russell 2000 Index to its first bear market decline of 20 percent since 2002, after falling home construction and manufacturing reinforced expectations the economy will contract.

The Russell 2000, whose members have a median market value of $510 million, declined 2.8 percent to 680.57, more than 20 percent below its July 13 record. That meet's the common definition of a bear market, the first for the benchmark since October 2002. The Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 lost 2.6 percent to 353.37. The S&P 500 declined 2.9 percent to 1,333.25.

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Russell 2000 is not the only market to now be in "bear mode".

FTSE 250, which is seen as the main economic indicator in the UK (main index is the FTSE 100) has also declined 20% since it's all time high.

I believe the small index, in each market, is starting to show signs of what will happen to the main grouping (Dow Jones, FTSE 100, Dax, CAC 40, etc) very soon.

Some are still talking about a potential crash. I think it's possible, really I do. Investors are just pulling out daily now and the markets are facing daily declines between 1 -2%.

It won't be long until panic hits.

www.bloomberg.com
(visit the link for the full news article)