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It was a wild ride on Wall Street.  Thursday saw intense trading and selling on the European debt woes.  The Dow free falled nearly 1,000 points, equaling its largest one-day drop in Dow history.  It was able to recover more than two-thirds of its losses before the final bell, but what a ride for traders!

What caused the crash?  Why was the market able to recover over 700 of the points it lost?

No one really knows for sure.  The SEC has launched its own investigation into the events that happened on Thursday.  Everyone on Wall Street seems to be pointing fingers at each other and everyone is digging into the huge mess of trading records in an attempt to find out.

Many analysts are convinced that the huge crash was due to trading glitches.  NASDAQ cancelled several trades in a few stocks that evidentlly had a huge impact of trading.  The market was expected to see some loses on Thursday due to the economic troubles in Europe but most believe now that not even Greece's woos should have caused the Dow to lose so much, so quickly.

An investigation is ongoing.  Hopefully, within the next few days we will know more after the supposed "glitches" and electronic troubles have been fully investigated.

Greece is now a little more than three weeks away from default as word comes today that the Standard & Poor's agency has severly downgraded Greece's bonds status to that of junk...literally.

The rest of the world's stock markets slumped on the bad news out of Greece which could indicate that other European countries are not as far out of the recession as the rest of the world would hope.  The trouble in Greece seems to be spreading.

The spread between ten year bonds of Germany and Greece spiked today to over seven percent.  That means that Greece could see rates increase upwards of 10 percent.  That high of a gap all but insures that the world has little, if any, confidence in the historied and fabled Greece.

Greece is desperate for aid at the moment but no one is coming to aid. 
  Germany is insisting on Greece waiting and putting together some solid plans before it takes action.  One thing is for certain, Greece appears to be squeezed for time.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, unveiled the highly anticipated iPad on Wednesday.  A capacitive touch-screen iPhone like device, the iPad features a 10 hour battery life, 9.7inch screen, multi-touch capabilities and will be compatible with apps that currently sell on iTunes.

A below the expected price of $499 per iPad could not stop Apple stock from losing value, however.  The Apple shares fell nearly 4 percent immediately after Jobs unveiled the new device.  While trading was nearly three times as high that day for the stock the market was clearly not impressed with the new netbook-like offering from Apple.  Shares fell as low as $199.53 before rebounding slightly by closing.

The dip in value of the Apple stock was not fully unexpected, however the amount it fell was.  What does this mean for Apple and the forthcoming iPad?  How well will it sell?  Overall, Apple has been doing incredibly well over the past few years with last year being no exception.  While many are concerned with the apparent lack of appeal of a tablet, most analysts are convinced the iPad will likely sell and ultimately be a hit for Apple given its past and the availability of so many apps that will exist at the launch of the iPad.

Oil fell below $73 a barrel on continued fears about energy consumption.  The country is burning less gasoline than a year ago and the price per barrel is nearly $20 over what it cost just a year ago.

The difference is projected need.  While the projected need for oil is higher than it was at this point last year it is still very low and is continuing to fall.  The Commerce Department reported today a 5.7 percent increase in annual growth last quarter.  That's the fastest rate in nearly 7 years, which has led to the steadied rise in oil prices.  However, the expansion has failed to lead to a rise in consumption.  The need for gas has dropped consistently for weeks.

The growth rate will likely cool later this year and the demand for oil will likely continue to fall.  Could prices for barrels fall to last year's levels?  Many experts believe the answer to that question is "yes".

In a story recently posted on CNN.com, Oklahoma City has been selected as the best place in America to start a business.  Ranking #1 among all large metro areas, Oklahoma City was selected as the surest place for a start-up for its lower than low foreclosure rate and extremely reasonable median rent.

A high concentration of investors populate Oklahoma City and just  
about any type of start up has a good potential of finding investors.   
The downtown area bustles with activity and cultural diversity ensures investors will continue to come here for decades to come.

The MAPS (Metropolitan Area Projects) initiatives which began two decades ago have fostered over $3 billion in pubic and private development.  Additional funding is close to being passed which will add an additional $777 million in additional public projects.  This will ensure further private investment for Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City truly has a very bright future ahead for itself.  A great cosmopolitan city, it offers everything business owners and investors want and need.

The Dow ended Friday in positive territory again even after a report showing the new unemployment rate had risen to 9.7 percent.  The bad news didn't seem to have much effect however, as many analysts were predicting the unemployment rate to worse than reported.

The report issued from the Labor Department showed a slower than expected pace for losses last month.  Even though the unemployment numbers are now the worst since 1983, the report is leaving many with optimism about future reports.

Employers eliminated nearly 216,000 jobs in August which is down nearly 30% over July and over 10% than numbers from June.  Things are getting better.  Or are they?

As long as job losses remain this high many believe that average Americans won't feel comfortable about spending money.  Even though the market is still on a multi-month rally, the unemployment numbers are still the main concern for a true economic turnaround.  Most believe that unemployment numbers aren't likely to get better anytime soon.  As the Government continues to dump money into the economy employers are continuing to let people go.

However, if the current decreases in unemployment numbers continue, the economy could begin to see improvement by the end of the year.