By Gregory White
Today’s was a wild day for markets. Pretty much every dramatic movement in the Dow can be traced back to one source: The crisis in Fukushima.
Here’s a quick rundown:
• 11:01 AM ET: Headline crosses the wires stating, “EU ENERGY CHIEF SAYS POSSIBLE CATASTROPHIC EVENT IN NEXT HOURS.” Markets plummet on the news.
• The EU Minister then retracts his comment, says he fears a catastrphe. Markets still head lower on the news that fuel rods in reactors 4, 5, and 6 are exposed.
• Around 2:00 PM ET: The US Energy Secretary says he believes “partial meltdown” has already happened. Radiation levels are said to be “extremely high”, according to nuclear regulatory committee chief Gregory Jaczko.
• Around 2:20 PM ET: Headline crosses the wire that the Japanese power company has nearly finished work on the power line that will solve the crisis. Markets climb back.
• Around 3:00 PM ET: TEPCO, the Japanese electricty authority, then says it can’t say when the power line will be fixed, only that it will be ASAP.
The madness of today’s trading day, pictured in the Dow’s movements:
[click on the image for a larger version]
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Related reading:
2011 Japanese Nuclear Incidents
Wikipedia