Developing: Stocks Crash Across the Board as NASDAQ Provides Insight into Recent Crash

The worst day for NASDAQ since 2011……..More insight is provided below from USA Today

After making big gains last year, biotechs have been crushed in recent weeks as they come under pressure to lower prices for their drugs. Biogen dropped 4.4% to $287.35 and Gilead slid 7.3% to $65.92. Both roughly doubled in value last year.

Many “momentum” names like Facebook, Netflix and Twitter also fell. Many of these stocks have had huge runs to the upside and have gotten pricey, and many investors are selling to protect profits.

If investors think the Nasdaq has taken them on a roller-coaster ride in the past week, they are right. Getting killed Thursday on the Nasdaq:

1. Biotech. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF is down nearly 5.5%.

2. Facebook: Shares of the social media stock are down 5%, erasing a big chunk of yesterday’s 7.3% surge, which was the best gain on the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index.

3. Tesla. The electric-car maker is down 5.9%.

4. Netflix. Shares of the video-streaming company are off 5.2%.

5. Twitter. It hasn’t been a “tweet” day for Twitter, either, with shares down 2.9%.

Still, not one of the biggest 10 percentage losers in the Nasdaq 100 index are in the information technology sector, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ.

It’s the health care industry that’s the biggest culprit of pain in the Nasdaq. Six of the 10 worst Nasdaq 100 stocks are in healthcare. The Nasdaq 100 is an index of the largest non-financial stocks on the Nasdaq.

Stocks got a boost Wednesday from the Federal Reserve, when the minutes of the Fed’s March 18-19 meeting revealed a consensus that short-term rates shouldn’t be increased anytime soon. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 181.04 points, or 1.1%, to 16,437.18. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 20.22 points, or 1.1%, to 1,872.18 and the Nasdaq composite index jumped 70.91 points, or 1.7%, to 4,183.90.