Colorado
Flickr Creative Commons / dok1
It was a quiet day for news in the markets.
First the scoreboard:
Dow: 12,822, -120.7, -0.9%

S&P 500: 1,362, -13.8, -1.0%

NASDAQ: 2,925, -40.6, -1.3%
And now the top stories:

  • Headlines were dominated by the heartbreaking news out of Aurora, Colorado.   A gunman opened fire onto a crowded movie theatre during a late night showing of The Dark Knight Rises.  71 were shot including 12 who were killed.

  • Eurozone finance ministers signed off on a plan that's expected to provide about €100 billion ($100 billion) to Spain's troubled banks.  From our Simone Foxman: "One of the most concerning pieces of that bailout plan is the fact that Spain—and not a collective of EU countries and organizations—will be liable for the loans made by Europe's bailout funds to Spanish banks as part of this program. Investors had hoped that the bailout would act to separate stress on the Spanish government from stress on its troubled banks, as Spain had a manageable public debt burden at 68.5 percent of GDP at the end of 2011."

  • European markets got crushed, with Spain's IBEX tumbling by 6 percent. The euro collapsed against the dollar. 

  • The U.S. markets followed Europe lower. There was little other news to drive today's trading activity.

  • Corn prices continued to surged to new highs as drought conditions continue to devastate U.S. farms.