The STOCK INDEXES & MARKETS




Stock indexes closed lower on Tuesday, as investors remain


wary due to renewed accounting concerns. The NASDAQ


Composite Index filled last Friday's gap crossing at 1401.03


thereby opening the door for a possible test of last week's


low crossing at 1336.06. Closes above the May-June downtrend


line crossing near 1450 are needed to signal that a short-


term bottom has likely been posted by the NASDAQ. The NASDAQ


Composite Index closed down 24.48 points at 1381.13. The


September S&P 500 index closed lower on Tuesday erasing a


large portion of last week's short covering rally. Today's


low-range close leaves the door open for a possible test of


last week's low at 935 on Wednesday. Closes above the


reaction high crossing at 1007.30 are needed to temper the


bearish outlook in the market. The September S&P 500 index


closed down 24.30 points at 954.




The Dow extended Monday's decline as investors continued to


punish the market over accounting scandals, which have


rocked the market over the past few months. The sell off of


the past two days has erased almost all of last Friday's


rally. Today's low-range close leaves the door open for


additional weakness on Wednesday. Closes below the 62%


retracement level of the September-March rally crossing at


9059 would open the door for a test of last week's low


crossing at 8897. If this support level is exceeded, the Dow


could fall all the way down to 8678 before the next level of


support surfaces. The Dow closed down 178 points at 9096.