Let's try to make some sense out of what happened today that caused the mass panic that plunged the Dow 279 points.  First GE had a disappointing Q1 earnings report.  But isn't this the same GE that they've been saying for two weeks has been expected to have poor Q1 earnings?  And the same GE that just one week ago was the darling of Wall Street?  And then there was China that announced today a new policy allowing short selling in view of the fact that their stocks had reached a seven-year high.  Is this new policy because they expect their stocks to plummet now, which would be the only circumstance in which shorting would be a wise strategy?  And then there's Greece.  Suddenly today everyone is worried about Greece again even though on February 20th the ECB granted the beleaguered country a 4 month moratium on payments on their debt.  So barely two months in, and even though Greece has repeatedly insisted that it is taking all necessary steps to avoid default, statements that have given investors much consolation since February.  But today suddenly everyone's panicked again about a possible Grexit, though there's been nary a hint that such a drastic move is even being considered anymore.  Analysts are saying that next week is the first drop-dead date when Greece has to start making good on its commitments.  It hasn't been made at all clear why this is and whatever happened to the four month moratium which ends in June.  It will not be until next week's Q1 reports that we find out what impact if any the strong dollar has had on U.S. companies.  So what is the sense of today's massive sell off?  There is none, just more irrational investor anxiety.  At 7.1 billion shares, volume was considerably above recent averages.  All eyes now are on United Technologies, Boeing and other international companies that will be reporting next week and if their earnings have been hurt by the dollar.  Stay tuned.

Markets | Fri Apr 17, 2015 4:51pm EDT

Wall Street falls steeply with China, Greece fears paramount

BY CAROLINE VALETKEVITCH

DJ:    17,826.30  -279.47     NAS:      4,931.82  -75.98      S&P:      2,081.18  -23.81

(Reuters) - The S&P 500 posted its biggest percentage loss since March 25 on Friday as investors shunned risk amid new trading regulations in China, renewed worries about Greece running out of money, and tepid U.S. corporate earnings.

Selling followed sharp overseas stocks declines and was broad, with all 10 major S&P 500sectors losing ground.

Among the biggest drags, the S&P financials index was down 1.3 percent, with shares of Dow component American Express falling 4.4 percent to $77.32 after revenue missed analysts' estimates, partly due to the currency impact.

The Dow and S&P 500 both snapped two weeks of gains. For the week, the Dow was down 1.3 percent, the S&P 500 down 1 percent and the Nasdaq down 1.3 percent.

Both Honeywell International and General Electric blamed the strong dollar for lower revenue. Shares of Honeywell were down 2.1 percent at $101.70, while GE shares were down 0.1 percent at $27.25.

China's securities regulator warned investors to be cautious as Chinese shares hit seven-year highs. China allowed fund managers to lend stocks for short-selling and expanded the number of stocks investors can short.

China H-Share index futures fell 3.4 percent. Global equities lost ground as the weakness inChina carried through to European and U.S. markets.

"We saw selling overseas, and that spilled over into the U.S. We've had a nice rally over the last few weeks to the upper half of the trading range, and it's moving back over," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.

"It's still too early to tell what earnings are going to be for the quarter, but there haven't been that many upside surprises. And that's what we need to see."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 279.47 points, or 1.54 percent, to 17,826.3, the S&P 500 lost 23.81 points, or 1.13 percent, to 2,081.18 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 75.98 points, or 1.52 percent, to 4,931.81.

Market participants were also concerned Greece could leave the euro zone as it tries to reform its economy and deal with heavy debt. Greece dismissed reports it needed to tap remaining cash reserves to meet salary payments.

The U.S. earnings season has been mixed so far with more companies beating lowered expectations. The impact of the stronger dollar will be highlighted next week with quarterly reports from United Technologies Corp, Boeing and other top companies.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,458 to 596, for a 4.12-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 2,160 issues fell and 597 advanced, for a 3.62-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted two new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 37 new highs and 43 new lows.

About 7.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 6.2 billion daily average for the month to date, according to BATS Global Markets.