Mid-3Q Update

Today is August, 10, 2011, which is the day I should have rebalanced my portfolio.  However, if you recall from my last "Full Motley" entry, I started by noting how quickly the trigger date had arrived.  Well, I was a full month ahead of schedule!  The most interesting part is that if I had waited the month, then I would have made my adjustments today as the market closed around 10,700, instead of the 12,600 mark where it was a month ago.  I also would not have ceased my contributions into my Roth IRA, which was the right move to make in my opinion for my daily finances.

Most likely, I will move a portion of bonds from my Roth IRA to the stocks during this valley.  Also, I will have an unrelated entry later this month (that is, unrelated to my personal portfolio and the markets in general), but for now, let's continue tracking the Dow's third-quarter freefall....

No rest for investors: Dow plunges 520
http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/10/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?iid=Lead
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- After a one-day respite, U.S. stocks plunged sharply yet again Wednesday as investors were confronted with mounting fears about Europe's ongoing debt crisis, this time in France.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 520 points, or 4.6%, to 10,720. The index ended the day near session lows.

The S&P 500 fell 52 points, or 4.4%, to 1,121; and the Nasdaq composite lost 101 points, or 4.1%, to 2,381.

Stocks were led lower by the financial sector. On Wednesday afternoon CEO of embattled Bank of America Brian Moynihan tried to reassure investors that conditions at the bank and in the country are much better than they were four years ago when the financial crisis hit. The comments were made during a call hosted by investor Bruce Berkowitz of Fairholme Capital Management.

But the comments were not enough. Shares of the Dow component plunged 11% on the day. BofA has fallen nearly 50% so far this year.

Other names in the financial sector were hit just as hard. Shares of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley dropped about 10%. Shares of Wells Fargo, UBS and JPMorgan Chase were down around 7%.

Along with BofA's problems, investors remain worried about the Europe's ongoing sovereign debt crisis.
Ever since Standard & Poor's stripped the U.S. of its AAA credit rating on Friday, fears have been building that rating agencies may also downgrade AAA-rated nations in Europe, since they are also struggling with massive debt problems.

On Wednesday, shares of French bank Societe Generale tumbled 15% on the Paris stock exchange amid speculation that France, Europe's second-largest economy after Germany, may be first to face a rating cut.
European banking shares also fell sharply. Deutsche Bank's stock dropped 12% while Spanish bank Banco Santandedr dropped 9.5%.