There's no panic in the Dow's tumble this time, Arms Index says
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is plunging 883 points, and heading toward the 2nd-biggest ever point drop, but market internals suggest the selling is relatively cool and collected. The Arms Index, a volume-weighted breadth measure that usually rises above 1.000 when stock market falls, as sellers of declining stocks tend to be more aggressive than buyers of advancing stocks, rose to just 1.134 for the NYSE. Many feel a rise above 2.000 suggests panic-like selling. The number of advancing stocks outnumbered decliners 2,597 to 370, or by a 7.0-to-1 margin, while volume in declining stocks was above advancing volume 767.8 million to 96.4 million, or a 8.0-to-1 score. When the Dow suffered its biggest-ever point drop on Monday--down 1,175 points--the NYSE's Arms shot up to a 2 1/2-year high of 3.59.
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