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Stocks tumbled into the weekend as economic recession fears grew after the unemployment rate rose to its highest level since November 2005. The market started lower this morning and extended its losses throughout the day, finishing at its lowest levels of the day. The Dow lost 256.54, or 1.96%. The S&P 500 fell by 35.53, or 2.46%. The Nasdaq was hit the hardest, plunging 98.03 points, or 3.77%.

Technology stocks were the clear leaders on the downside today. The carnage was widespread in the tech sector, with large and small caps suffering alike. Research in Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM) plunged 8.39% to lead the big caps to the downside. Motorola (NYSE:MOT) shares lost 6.11% after an analyst raised concerns that the company missed out on the Christmas product cycle. MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE:WFR) and Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq:ESLR) both lost over 7% as the solar plays were hit hard today. KLA Tencor (Nasdaq:KLAC) and Novellus (Nasdaq:NVLS) lost 5% and 4.15% as the chip sector was one of the biggest losers of the day today.

Consumer cyclicals were another big loser in today's trading as investors sold without questions after the poor employment report. Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) lost 6.14% and hit a new 52 week low on heavy volume. Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) fell by 4.4% on the day.

Inside the consumer cyclical/consumer services groups meltdown today was the retail group getting absolutely crushed. Crocs Inc. (Nasdaq:CROX) lost 13.25% and Deckers Outdoor (Nasdaq:DECK) lost 5.07% as investors showed no mercy on previous beloved specialty retail plays. Coach Inc. (NYSE:COH) fell 5.45% and hit a new 52 week low today. Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) shares shed 5.15% of their value to become another name on the 52 week low list. Another name on that list is Macy's Corporation (NYSE:M), which lost 4.96% on very heavy volume today.

Other Notable New 52 week lows

• Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) Lost 3.61% on double its normal daily volume.
• Bed Bath and Beyond (Nasdaq:BBBY) Lost 4.42% on 5 times its normal volume after lowering earnings expectations.
• Symantec (Nasdaq:SYMC) Fell 2.3% and hit a new low, but with the rest of the tech action, actually held up decently today.
• United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Lost 1.76% and has had a very rough last two weeks.
• Hovnanian (NYSE:HOV) This homebuilder lost another 9.15% and is in danger of becoming a penny stock if it keeps it up.
• The Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Housing shows no signs of bottoming, and Home Depot continues to suffer. The stock lost another 3.33% today.
• Starbucks (Nasdaq:SBUX) This once mighty stock has taken an amazing tumble in the past year and a half. It lost another 3.16% on heavy volume today.

Nonfarm payrolls grew by just 18,000 last month, the weakest growth since August 2003. Private sector jobs actually declined last month, while government jobs rose. Construction and manufacturing both were extremely weak last month as employers slashed payrolls in those areas. This report did nothing to calm the growing fears of recession, in fact it just poured gasoline on the fire.

The trading action today was worse than I have seen in quite a long time, particularly on the Nasdaq. The new high to new low ratios were staggering today on the NYSE and the Nasdaq. There were 35 new highs at the NYSE and 561 new lows. On the Nasdaq it was 49 new highs and 475 new lows. Both the NYSE and the Nasdaq had 93% of their volume to the downside, a number very rarely ever seen. The volume on the Nasdaq was pretty heavy, coming in above 2.5 billion shares traded. The NYSE was also fairly heavy, with almost 1.7 billion shares traded.

For a market bull like myself, days like today are certainly not encouraging at all. I expected a market selloff at the beginning of the year, but even the most bearish probably wouldn't have predicted this precipituous of a selloff to start the new year. Recession chances have certainly risen, and if employment continues to disappoint as it did today, a recession is all but a foregone conclusion.

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