Putting the stock market into perspective

By Alison Kosik at the NYSE

Just putting things into perspective for a moment. Do you realize it will cost you more to buy a grande latte at Starbucks, than a share of stock in online broker E-Trade?

So many companies with household names are trading below $10 a share: General Motors, Ford, Yahoo, Alcoa.

In fact, more than 100 stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 index are now trading for less than $10.

One senior index analyst at Standard & Poor's is quoted as saying the group of more than 100 stocks makes up the greatest number of sub-$10 stocks on the index in at least 28 years.

Here's another way to look at it. Earlier this week, only five S&P 500 companies had share prices of more than $100. There's no question, it's been a rough ride for the markets -- and investors.

So far this year, the S&P 500 has plunged 45%. Chew on that, as you have your breakfast sandwich and grande latte at Starbucks, which by the way, together, cost more than a share of Starbucks on the open market.