DOW FALLS MORE THAN 500 POINTS; ANALYSTS SEE NO CAUSE FOR OVERREACTION

Financial analysts say there is no reason to panic over Monday's stock market decline.

The New York Stock Exchange shut down early Monday after the Dow Jones industrial average suffered its worst single-day point drop in history. The Dow plummeted more than 550 points to end the day at 7,165.15.

"I am a little surprised at how fast it has unraveled," said Dr. Bruce Domazlicky, an economics professor at Southeast Missouri State University.

Still, he said, some financial observers had been predicting that the market would make a "correction."

The drop in stock prices was touched off by big declines in the Asian markets.

Domazlicky said a slowdown in the sales of computer equipment and software in the Asian markets helped trigger the decline on Wall Street.

In today's global economy, what happens in the foreign markets affects the U.S. stock market, he said.

A large part of the U.S. economy is export oriented, he said. "When there is a slowdown in growth in other parts of the world, companies experience reduced sales and reduced growth," said Domazlicky.

But he said U.S. investors shouldn't be overly worried. "If you are investing for the long haul, I don't think there is much to worry about."

That view was echoed by Cape Girardeau stockbroker Joe Domian of the Edward Jones investment firm.

"We are down," he said. "The rest of the world is down too."

The Dow Jones has dropped more than 1,100 points since its all-time high in early August, Domian said. But he predicted the stock market will rebound today just as it did after the big drop in October 1987.

Despite Monday's decline, Domian said the nation's economy remains strong. "We still have close to full employment, with unemployment around 5 percent or less," he said.

"The big difference between now and then is that interest rates had been rising in 1987. This year interest rates have steadily been declining," said Domian.

Treasury rates dropped again Monday. That should result in lower interest rates on home loans, he said.

With today's instant communication, what happens in foreign markets has an almost immediate impact on the U.S. stock market, he said.

"Technology stocks have been hit the hardest," said Domian. Medical stocks also took some hits.

The stock price of one major pharmaceutical company dropped more than $9 a share from the market's close Friday to the end of trading Monday, he said.

But Domian said the plummeting stock prices lead to investment bargains."Normally when stocks drop 20 percent you want to borrow like crazy and buy like crazy," he said.

Domian said he had numerous calls Monday afternoon from investors who wanted advice on what stocks to buy.