Spooked Stocks Dip Slightly

Stocks took a small slide this morning, as spooked investors bid farewell to one of the worst months in market history. The Dow fell 21 points, while the S&P and Nasdaq were off 0.3% and 0.9% respectively, the Wall Street Journal reports. Among the scary news was a predictably grisly consumer spending report, which took its biggest hit in four years, and a slashed outlook from Electronic Arts.

Overseas, the Bank of Japan cut interest rates just 0.2%, rather than the 0.25% many expected, sending the Nikkei down 5%. Domestically, markets have been strong in recent days, but barring a huge rally today, October will still go down as the worst month for the market since 1987, and the 11th worst in history. (More stock market stories.)