Bad week, oil is nearing $80 a barrel, War in the middle east (not us this time) and bad earnings

End of the week market overview from Yahoo! Finance..

I think this is a great explanation of the past week...

The market started the week optimistic about the outlook for second quarter earnings reports. The week ended on a dismal note, with concerns about war in the Middle East and oil prices dominating the action.

The S&P 500 index gained 2 points on Monday. That reflected a decent underlying tone. Merrill Lynch downgraded the technology sector to "underweight" and that led to a 13 point drop in the Nasdaq. The critically important technology sector continues to be the weakest of the ten S&P categories, but the overall S&P held steady.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 index gained another 5 points. Alcoa reported decent earnings and the general tone was moderately bullish. The Nasdaq even snapped back 11 points. Then, the roof caved in.

Wednesday the market tanked. The S&P lost 14 points and the Nasdaq 38. Semiconductor stocks got slammed and a number of analysts cut earnings estimates for key companies such as IBM, Dell, and Apple for the second half of the year.

Also of concern were increased tensions in the Middle East which pushed oil prices towards $75 a barrel.

The tensions were soon labeled "war" and the S&P plunged another 16 points on Thursday. Oil prices rose towards $77 a barrel. Analysts didn't help, as Wal-Mart and Walt Disney received notable downgrades. There was no sign of a bounce.

It didn't get any better on Friday, as the S&P dropped significantly again. The war and oil prices were a primary factor, but there was also no good news to reverse the selling. Oil prices rose above $78 during the day, and fears of a significant consumer slowdown were exacerbated by a drop in June retail