U.S. stocks dive on European bank talk

U.S. stocks slid sharply on Thursday, extending losses for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index into a fourth day, as Wall Street’s worry about Europe’s debt trouble intensified.

The negative sentiment taking hold among investors is “driven by the bank runs in Europe, and some of the European banks are rumored to be looking in the Middle East for capital, it’s like a replay of 2008 for some of the U.S. banks,” said Charlie Smith, chief investment officer at Fort Pitt Capital. 

Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, pointing to reports that the European Union is working on a recapitalization of European banks, said, “EU officials are in the process of preparing for the fallout” of an eventual default by Greece.  

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-slide-sharply-in-fed-induced-gloom-2011-09-22