Stocks Start Q4 With a Thud

After seeing a 15% run-up in the third quarter, stocks started out the fourth quarter with a thud. The Dow fell 203 points, or 2.1%, to 9509, the Nasdaq lost 65 points, and the S&P 50 lost 27 points.

A weaker-than-expected September ISM number, talk from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about a strong dollar and a call from Goldman Sachs raising their job loss estimate, all contributed to today's downside action.

Stocks started the day weaker and ended at the low, which is never a good sign from a technical standpoint.

Tomorrow, the much anticipated September Jobs number is out. Currently the consensus is calling for a loss of 175,000 jobs. This number is seen as too optimistic and traders are positioning for a disappointment. Today an influential Goldman Sachs economist changed his job loss estimates to 250,000 from 200,000.

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