(9:39am ET) Equity prices sold off sharply at the open and then after gaining strength all day, sold off sharply again into the close. The DJIA (-80.05 -1.09% to 7270.89); the S&P 500 (-824 -1.07% to 764.90); and the NASDAQ Composite (-16.40 -1.14% to 1425.43) closed with a loss of just over -1%. Canadian markets remained strong through the close, however. The Toronto Composite gained +72.97 +0.93% to 7932.30, and the Venture Board was up +1.38 +0.16% to 854.97. The Techs (XLK +0.9%) were the leading sector with the Semi-conductors in particular strong on the day ($SOX +3.0%), while the Banks ($BKX gained +2.4%). True to recent form, as the Banks lifted, there was a sell-off in gold, as $GOLD dropped -$3.30/oz to close at 966.20. Crude Oil ($WTIC) gained +$2.54/bbl to close at 42.50, and is a tad stronger this morning, up to 43.46 at about 8:15am ET, then softening a bit to 43.06 at 9am, still up so far on the [More...]