Market Summary

It was another sharply negative day on Wall Street as continued fears over European sovereign debt sent the blue chips below 10K. Stocks gave up noon time gains to finish at about their lows of the session. By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 103.84, or 1 percent, to 9,908.39. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 9.45, or 0.9 percent, to 1,056.74, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 15.07, or 0.7 percent, to 2,126.05. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 6.49, or 1.1 percent, to 586.49.

This was not a good start for the equity markets in their quest to reverse a four week decline. Stocks have tumbled since hitting 15 month highs in mid January, however we aren’t even at a correction yet, with about 3 percent left to go on the downside before a 10 percent move. The volatility is great for trading, but poor mom and pop schmo who thought there

After three sessions of losses, crude oil rose 70 cents to settle at $71.89 per barrel on the NYMEX, while gold advanced $12.70 to $1,065 an ounce.

History Made at Super Bowl XL IV

In a record that is near and dear to my heart, yesterday’s New Orleans Saints’ victory over Indianapolis in the Super Bowl was watched by 106.5 million people, surpassing the 105.97 million 1983 finale of M*A*S*H to become the most-watched program in U.S. television history.

The numbers are still staggering in favor of M*A*S*H, which saw the series finale watched in 77 percent of homes with TVs on in 1983, compared with the audience share of 68 for the Super Bowl.

The figures for the Super Bowl show a strong improvement over last year’s viewership, which boasted an audience of 98.7 million. Higher viewership will lead to ever higher ad prices for air time. I don’t know about you, but for the most part I was disappointed by the commercials.

ILive Official Commercial Rankings

1) McDonald’s Corp (MCD)
2) Snickers
3) Doritos
4) Google Inc (GOOG)
5) E*Trade Financial Corporation (ETFC)

List your Favorites Below!