Stocks take another sharp fall

"You are what you think you are because he who reigns within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears, is more than a king." John Milton

NEW YORK, Aug. 16 -- Stocks took another fall Thursday as did Asian and European markets amid more bad U.S. housing news. Keynes use to call this situations waves of optimism and pessimism and modern economist call them; Rational Expectations when what we fear, we make it happens because markets right now, are driven by fear and remember what one of the US presidents said; we should only fear fear it self.

The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 167.45 points, or 1.29 percent, at 12,861.47 in mid-morning trading. The Nasdaq composite was down 40.29, or 1.61 percent, at 2,458.83 and the Standard and Poor's 500 Index was down 19.84, or 1.39 percent, at 1,406.70.

Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed down 2 percent at 16.148.

Oil futures fell $1.75 to $71.58 a barrel, reacting to the drop in global stock markets and expectations that a tropical storm would miss key oil and gas infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bonds gained. The benchmark 10-year note was up 14/32, or $4.375 for every $1,000 invested, yielding 4.673 percent Thursday.

The dollar was at 114.59 yen from 116.69 yen late Wednesday. The euro traded at $1.3427 from $1.3450 late Wednesday.

In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department said July housing starts decreased by 6.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted 1.381 million annual rate -- the lowest rate in 10 years as sales keep tumbling and credit tightens.

The U.S. Labor Department said jobless claims were up 6,000 to 322,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis last week.