Or at least just the party in Wall Street's pants.

The shopping mall is not the only place where prices are falling. Stocks tumbled yesterday in their steepest slide since July, after a weak sales estimate by Wal-Mart spurred concerns about the holiday shopping season and fed broader worries about a slowing economy.

The sell-off on Wall Street spoiled what had largely been a steady run-up in stock prices in recent weeks. In the last month and a half, the Dow Jones industrial average broke through 12,000 for the first time, and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose to its highest level in six years.

Stocks Drop Steeply After a Bull Run [NYT]