(Image Source: Money-R-Us)

BY GEORGE DEMONTIER

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

Nothing but bad news on Wall Street today,
as stocks plummet and new economic reports emerge filled with discouraging data.

“the bad news just keeps rolling in. a 500 point drop in the Dow or 468, whatever it is at this point is terrible, terrible, terrifying news.”

And the Dow Jones industrial average isn’t the only major index taking a hit. The S&P 500 was also down more than 4 percent and the tech heavy Nasdaq dropped more than 5 percent today. This comes after a surge of dismal economic data. The LA Times reports...

“First-time jobless claims rose a more-than-expected 408,000 last week. Consumer prices jumped 0.5% in June from May, more than double the 0.2% increase economists had estimated. [And] Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2%.”


CNN reports, Taken individually, the data isn’t that bad, but when you add it up, it becomes significant.

“We come into this week with people feeling that things are not going well you get these bad pieces of economic news - not dramatic - not drastic but they reinforce the view, they destroy consumer confidence and ultimately that is what we’re seeing now.”

Now many are asking-- when will the Fed step in? There have been rumors of a third round of quantitative easing, referred to as QE3, but the Financial Post says that’s unlikely for now.
 

“Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist for Capital Economics, said the strong [Consumer Price Index] reading, combined with a potential for further jumps in inflation this year, left QE3 off the table until 2012.”


As the numbers get worse, more and more people are talking about a double-dip recession. It’s a real concern, but an analyst on CNBC says it could just be a slow recovery.
 

“I don’t think we’re going into a recession. I’ve said it before i think this is more a rocky road than a double dip. I don’t think we’re getting out of it anytime soon either. It’s going to feel like slogging uphill through 3 feet of snow to school and back, but we’re probably not going back into recession.”

Federal Reserve Chariman Ben Bernanke will speak at a conference in Jackson Hole next week.

Transcript by Newsy.