With prospects of an auto-industry bailout fading, the Dow Jones fell 5% today, dropping 427 points to close at 7997. CNBC says the "last time the Dow ended below 8,000 was March 2003." The S&P 500 fell 6% and the Nasdaq lost 6.5%. One investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management said to Bloomberg News, "Hideous day. It's hard to put a basement on this thing."......

The Dow and the S&P 500 both closed down about 5% today in a day of heavy losses. The Dow was down 443 points and closed below 9,000 amidst fears of a prolonged recession that even superhero President-elect Obama may be not be able to turn around. "Everything is so dismal right now, it's just an endless flow of bad news and no one wants to buy," despaired equity trader Dave Rovelli, who could really......

Stocks were expected to fall this morning, as Asian markets were significantly down (Nikkei -6%, Hong Kong -13%, Shanghai -6%) as are the European markets, but U.S. new home sales rose unexpectedly in September by 2.7%, so stocks declined less severely than thought for this morning. Bloomberg News said that sales were "propelled by a drop in prices ahead of the latest turmoil in financial markets." Stocks are down about 1% now. The director of......

The Dow ended the day up over 276 points to 11,239.28, thanks to higher-than- estimated profit at mortgage underwriter Wells Fargo. Even Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rose over 15% today. The bad news: Consumer prices increased "at the fastest pace in 26 years", the FBI is investigating IndyMac for fraud and even usually "recession- proof" chocolate is hit during these harder times.......