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Gold "was bound to collapse at some stage," Ciner said. "People were waiting and waiting for higher inflation, and they finally realized it's not happening." Just seven stocks rose in the S&P 500. Among them, Citigroup inched up 9 cents to $45.87, after the country's third-largest bank reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates. Stronger revenue from trading and investment banking lifted the bank's results. Sprint Nextel jumped after Dish Network offered $25 billion to buy the company. Dish's bid is aimed at beating an offer from the Japanese phone company SoftBank. Sprint surged 14 percent to $7.06, and Dish fell 2 percent to $36.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific offered $13.6 billion to buy genetic testing equipment maker Life Technologies. That works out to $76 in cash for each share of Life Technologies. Thermo Fisher's stock fell 1 percent to $78.58, while Life Technologies rose 7 percent to $73.11. In the market for U.S. government bonds, which traders often buy when they're concerned about the economy, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note retreated to 1.69 percent, its lowest level of the year. That's down from 1.72 percent late Friday. But for all the alarm among investors, experts doubt that the drop in stock prices is a harbinger of another global recession. Deep government budget cuts have slowed the U.S. economy and kept Europe in recession. And China's economy is cooling. But economists still expect the U.S. economy
-- the world's biggest -- to gain strength during the second half of the year. Nearly four years after the Great Recession ended, the American economy has a stronger foundation. Rising home prices and near-record stock prices make consumers feel wealthier and more willing to spend. And although China's growth was below expectations, it was still a pace that would be considered strong anywhere else. The broader outlook for stocks was not likely to be "tremendously affected" by Monday's sell-off, Ciner said. "There's so much money being pumped into the system, and the money has to go somewhere," he said, referring to the more than $2 trillion in bonds the Federal Reserve has bought since the Great Recession. And there's ample evidence that the U.S. economy is making substantial improvements. "There is some growth. Profits are up. So I don't think commodities will affect stocks," Ciner said. "There may be some volatility, but I think stocks will continue to go up in the short term."
[Associated
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