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‘Sell first and ask questions later’

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U.S. stocks continued their steep decline this afternoon, with all three major stock indexes down between 3 and 4 percent, CNNMoney reported.

Experts say the downgrade by itself shouldn’t matter — that it was expected and that the United States still has a strong credit rating.

But the market wasn’t buying it. “Investors are having one reaction to the downgrade: sell first and ask questions later,” said Paul Zemsky, head of asset allocation with ING Investment Management.

Of the 26 stocks tracked by the Business Record, only EMC Insurance Group Inc. had posted a gain as of 12:45 p.m. Iowa time.

At the same time, the Dow Jones industrial average was approaching a 400-point slide; Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index had dropped 53 points and the Nasdaq had drooped 113.5 points.

The selloff was deep and broad, with 29 of the Dow 30 stocks posting a negative number, as did 495 members of Standard & Poor’s 500 index, CNNMoney said.

Wall Street’s so-called “fear” index – the VIX – jumped 22 percent to 38.95, the highest level in more than a year, CNNMoney said.