It's Portfolio Crunch Time

The stock market's early strength on Wednesday was overcome by another wave of selling as the major averages made new correction lows before closing mixed. All of the Dow averages closed with slight gains as did the S&P 500. The Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 once again were hit the hardest with slight losses in the mid- and small-cap indices. The overnight news of a possible short-term budget and debt ceiling deal has spurred a nice rally overseas with the major Euro averages up well over 1%. ...