Investor Fears Deepen as US Stock Market Swings

 　　The U.S. stock market dropped again Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrials Average closing down 1.6 percent. That capped off a week of extreme volatility¹ on Wall Street as investors³ continued to lose confidence in stocks because of worries about the health of the American economy and a looming⁴  financial crises in Europe and in Asia.

　　The news coming from the world’s financial markets on Friday may be grim, said Jeffrey Sica of Sica Wealth Management, but he added that the market’s overall volatility recently is an even greater cause for concern.

　　“I mean 400-point days four days in a row last week, and then another 400-point decline yesterday, people can’t deal with it. They have no confidence so they are very quick to sell," said Sica. "It’s just an overall lack of confidence where they wake up in the morning and turn on their television and see how bad things are in Europe and how bad things are in the U.S. economically, and it is dismal⁵.”

　　Sica notes that even upticks in share prices are not enough to restore investor² confidence.

　　Fearing that the market will plummet⁶ again within days or even hours, many investors are taking their profits out of the market rather than reinvest. Sica said most have been keeping their cash, putting it into hard assets like gold, or parking it in low-risk, low-yield U.S. Treasury⁷ bonds.

　　“And we’ve seen it. We saw that money run into the 10-year Treasuries⁸ yesterday. You’ve seen tremendous amounts of what are called redemptions out of mutual⁹ funds, where people sell their mutual funds and go to cash," said Sica. "We are seeing record levels of that. And that’s because fear is ruling the show right now and it may continue for some time.”

　　Stocks on the New York Stock Exchange lost 4 percent over the week.

　　Share prices in Europe and Asia also plunged¹⁰ Friday - with most key Asia stock indexes down more than 2 percent, and leading indexes in Europe off 1 percent or more. Gold prices rose, hovering¹¹ near $1,850 an ounce at the end of U.S. trading.

1 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

2 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

5 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

6 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。

7 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

8 treasuries   

n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库

参考例句：

• Yields on Treasuries, Bunds and gilts can remain at historically low levels. 美国国债、德国国债和英国国债的收益率仍然可以维持在历史低位。 来自互联网
• Treasuries and gold rose in response but the dollar fell sharply. 接着，国债和黄金的价格上涨，而美元价格则猛跌。 来自互联网

9 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

10 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

11 hovering   

鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
• I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。