Wall Street decided to have a better time today. After yesterday's sixth worst day ever, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 429 points up (+3.98%) today, closing at 11,239.77. The S&P 500 soared 5.29% as did Nasdaq, up 4.74%. It helped that the Federal Reserve said it would not raise interest rates "at least through mid-2013." more ›

After the worst day for the Dow Jones since December 2008, the index was up 1.83 percent this morning, and the Nasdaq climbed up 2.85 percent, stemming some of the damage done in yesterday's 634-point freefall. $8.1 trillion has been lost from global markets since July 24, in what the Times calls an "epidemic" fear among investors. Treasury bonds did quite well, despite the S&P's credit downgrade, so why do we care about what the S&P thinks anyway? Oh, right, the market's run by lemmings. "When you get declines of this sort, it is technical factors and emotion that drive markets—fundamentals are largely irrelevant," one expert says. more ›

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped as much as 515 points today, and has plummeted below 11,000 for the first time since November of 2010. Investors "poured money into Treasuries, gold, and the Swiss franc," while foreign markets in Europe, Australia and China "extended losses to more than 20 percent from recent peaks, the level some investors consider a bear market," Bloomberg reports. Prepare yourself to see a lot more "pop-up soup kitchens" on Kickstarter. more ›

Today, the Dow Jones fell 512 points, its 9th biggest drop, over 4% as the S&P 500 also fell 4% and the Nasdaq plummeted over 5% as the world worried about the soundness of global economies. There's a lot of angst and fear, but in the scheme of things, it's not exactly like the downward spiral in late 2008—on December 1, 2008, the Dow fell over 700 points— and early 2009 (see graph)...yet.
• "This is a fear-driven market. We're in a mini-free fall. It's not a Black Monday, or Black Thursday, but it's in pretty bad shape-all the big stocks are being liquidated"—Christian Thwaites, president and chief executive at Sentinel Investments, to the Wall Street Journal
• "The conventional wisdom on Wall Street was that the economy was growing -- that the worst was behind us. Now what people are realizing is the stimulus didn't work, and we may be headed back to recession"—Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, to CNN
• "We are now in correction mode. We could have another couple of weeks to go before it bottoms."—Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor’s to the NY Times

Les Hinton, the chairman of Dow Jones and one of Rupert Murdoch's most trusted confidants, stepped down today amid the burgeoning hacking scandal at News Corp that has extinguished the British tabloid News of The World, forced News Corp's British subsidiary president (and Murdoch favorite) Rebekah Brooks out of office, and spurred an FBI investigation of the company. As the Guardian reports, Brooks's resignation "removed a human shield" from Hinton, as he held her former position at the time when some of the more appalling activity occurred. The Dow Jones publishes The Wall Street Journal, and the paper has walked a fine line in covering the scandal, with the Times's Bill Keller telling the Daily Beast, "I think the Journal has played it pretty much down the middle." more ›

The Dow and S&P 500 are down over 2% and the Nasdaq is down over 3%, thanks to worries about rising jobless claims, Europe's problems, and financial reform. A market strategist told CNNMoney, "There's a heightened sense of nervousness and markets look to be testing the lows of two weeks ago, when we had the mini-crash." Another investor said, "There are a lot of well-known negatives or obstacles to a speedy recovery, specifically in the U.S. economy and even the developed markets around the world. Earlier this year, everyone was assuming that the modest economic improvements were going to continue. It’s almost as if the market overshot itself.” more ›

Today's end-of-day links: Google admits they've been spying on you, the WFP calls for the Mets and Yankees to make a stand against Arizona, the Wii teaches blind kids how to walk with a cane, and more. more ›

The Dow Jones lost nearly 1,000 points (8+%) at one point during trading this afternoon, before recovering a little (the Dow is now down 510 points). CNBC reports, "One trader, on the condition of anonymity, said he heard fixed income desks in Europe shut down early because there was no liquidity — basically European banks are halting lending right now. 'This is similar to what took place pre-Lehman Brothers,' the trader said." The Wall Street Journal says, "Investors fled everything from stocks and risky bonds and poured money into safe assets such as U.S. Treasurys... 'It's getting pretty ugly out there very fast,' Guy Lebas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. 'There are definitely some major concerns that are escalating this afternoon.'" more ›

Today wasn't a good day on Wall Street. Concerns about the domestic job market and debts facing foreign countries lead to drops of 2.61 percent on the Dow Jones, 2.99 percent on the NASDAQ, and 3.11 percent on the Standard & Poor's 500, "feeding anxiety about the health of the global recovery," the Times reports. The cost of insuring debt in Greece, Portugal and Spain surged on Thursday because growing deficits "could put them at risk for default." According to Uri Landesman, head of global growth at ING, investors must ask: "How big is this fire going to be? What is panic, and what is legitimate, we don't know at this point. These things tend to turn on a dime." Not helping the situation was the release of a "bleaker-than-expected" report on the US labor market. more ›

Thanks to news like JP Morgan Chase's big 3rd quarter earnings, the Dow Jones has been up over 100 points and is thisclose to hitting the 10,000 point mark—right now it's at 9,980.79. CNBC points out, "The Dow was last at the 10,000 level on Oct. 3, 2008. It is up more than 52 percent since early March, when the Dow hit a low of 6,547." more ›

Today, as some economists said the recession was over (unemployment will still hit 10% though!), the Dow Jones crossed the 9,900 mark. According to CNBC, stocks were "fueled by earnings optimism, but then pulled back as investors took some profits." Another fun fact: "This came after the Dow logged its highest close in over a year on Friday, which, coincidentally, was also the two-year anniversary of its record close above 14,000." Jeez, 14,000—that seems so long ago. more ›

Stocks closed up today, capping the U.S. markets' best week since November. CNBC reports, "The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 53.92, or 0.8 percent, to close at 7,223.98. That brought its four-day total to nearly 700 points, or more than 10 percent. All 30 Dow stocks finished the week positive. Even with Monday's decline, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gained more than 10 percent this week." Of course, this comes as economists still expect the GDP to "decline at an annual rate of 4.6% this quarter and 1.5% in the second quarter" and China, which has $1 trillion of U.S. debt, is worried about U.S. Treasuries. more ›

The three U.S. stock indices fell 4% or more today: Nasdaq was down 3.99%, the S&P 500 dropped 4.66% (closing at 700.82) and the Dow Jones lost 299 points, closing at 6,763 points, its lowest level since 1997. more ›

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is currently at 6,833, after falling over 200 points, making its first sub-7,000 visit since 1997. A large part of the drop is due to the government's additional bailout funds for AIG, whose CEO wouldn't rule out another bailout. Elliot Wave International's Robert Prechter (whose company predicted the 1987 stock market crash) told Bloomberg Radio, "The bear market has only begun. I don’t see the clear weather yet," while UBS director of floor operations Art Cashin told CNBC, "You're beginning to hear people get a little more despondent as this continues to sell day after day. There's a growing sense of frustration about not quite being in control here — Not knowing where the next shoe in Imelda Marcos's shoe closet is." more ›

There may be a snow storm outside, but that doesn't mean Wall Street can avoid the bad news: Stock futures are falling on news of the additional $30 billion AIG secured from the federal government. Stocks fell in Asian and have dropped in Europe—and Warren Buffett's words that the U.S. economy is in shambles ain't helping either. A London portfolio manager told Bloomberg News, "Things are getting worse. The economy is still deteriorating and bad debts are still going to appear." The Dow is expected to drop under 7,000 points today, though it's unclear where it'll end up. more ›

The Dow Jones broke 9,000 points for the first time since November when trading closed: Not only did the Dow end up at 9,034 (up 258 points/almost 3%), the Nasdaq rose 3.5% and the S&P 500 was 3.16% higher. This, even in spite of poor manufacturing news—manufacturing levels are at the lowest since 1980. It's a new year, and analysts think stocks could gain up to 20% in 2009 (the Dow fell 34% last year), but, as Clusterstock notes, "The real newsflow will begin in earnest next week, and we'll get a picture of how bad December really was in the economy." more ›

The stock market greeted the first day of December by losing upwards of 7.7%: The Dow fell 679.95 points (7.7%) to end at 8,149 points; the Nasdaq dropped 8.95%; and the S&P 500 closed 8.93% lower. The chief investment officer of the Bank of New York Mellon Corp.'s wealth management unit, Leo Grohowski, told Bloomberg News, "The economic news is going to continue to get worse before it gets better. The biggest single challenge in terms of the economy is the state of housing and it still remains precarious.” more ›

The Dow Jones fell 5.56%, losing 444.99 points to close at 7,552 points; the Nasdaq fell 5% and the S&P 500 plummeted 6.71%. The NY Times reports, "Wall Street doubled down on its losses on Thursday, just a day after financial markets closed at their lowest point in nearly six years." And the Wall Street Journal says, "Stocks' sharp slide continued Thursday, pushing both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 to lows not seen since before the dot-com bubble." more ›

The Dow Jones ended the day at 9,065—up 889 points—as, the NY Times reports, "investors began looking for bargains among beaten down stocks." Plus, there's hope that the Federal Reserve will once again cut the key rate. more ›

While there were worries of huge losses after overseas markets fell, U.S. stocks were down about 3%: The Dow fell 312 points (-3.59%), while the Nasdaq fell 3.23% and S&P 500 dropped 3.45%. This photograph, above, taken earlier in the day when the Dow fell 400 some points, juxtaposes a ticker with an eerily appropriate ad for Madgascar 2. more ›

The Dow Jones ended the day with a 400+ rally, closing at 9,265 points. The Nasdaq was up 3.43% and the S&P 500 was up 4.77%. Earlier today, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the country should think about another stimulus package, "With the economy likely to be weak for several quarters, and with some risk of a protracted slowdown, consideration of a fiscal package by the Congress at this juncture is appropriate." But investors are hopeful, now, too: Dawson Wealth Management's Joe Heider told CNBC, "I think one of the most encouraging signs, is is a loosening up of the credit market. We're actually recommending to our clients that now is a good time to go back into the equity markets in a broad, diversified fashion." more ›

Update 11:30 a.m.: Stocks have fallen after a "feeble rally"--right now, the Dow is down 245 points (2.9%) and the Nasdaq is down 2.28% and S&P 500 is down over 3%. An ING investment strategist tells the NY Times, "The realization is dawning on people that we are heading into a recession, and it may not be the short and shallow recession that we had hoped for. The focus has shifted from the financial crisis to the real economy, but the news is not good there either.” more ›

Despite the naive exuberance exhibited in some quarters after Monday's stock surge, Wall Street is still armaggedon it! The sucker went down dramatically today amidst gloomy talk about the economy foundering in a recession. At the close, the Dow was down about 735 points, or 7.9 percent, negating most of Monday’s 936-point gain. And the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was down 9 percent. Patting himself on the back for his prescience, bond market analyst Tony Crescenzi told clients, "I've said since the summer that a ‘dark period’ of economic data lie ahead." The darkness! Our only hope now is that brave Bilbo Bernanke can deliver Sauron Greenspan's evil ring to the floor of the stock exchange and let Gandalf Krugman destroy it once and for all. more ›

The Dow has fallen 5.73%--and the Nasdaq is down over 6% as is the S&P 500--thanks to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech to the Economic Club of New York earlier today. While officials have repeatedly said that the bailout will take a while to work, Bernanke also gave a grim look at the future, "Our export sales, which have been a source of strength, very probably will slow." Still, "Americans can be confident that every resource is being brought to bear to address the current crisis.” CNBC also thinks that there's "an openness to further interest-rate cuts." Also affecting the Dow: The disappointing news about retail sales, producer prices, core PPI, etc... more ›

Wall Street followed the lead of global markets and the Dow Jones rose an incredible 936 points to end the day at 9,387.61, an 11% increase, which is the biggest one-day percentage gain since 1933. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also increased 11%. more ›

Traders really need this weekend after stocks swung in a 1,000 point range on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The stock market fell 696 points in the first 15 minutes but managed to recover and even trade above the open. At the end of the day, the market closed down 128 points, to 8,451. Nasdaq ended slightly up, +0.27%, while the S&P 500 ended -1.18% down. more ›

Investors are clutching their stomachs as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell hundreds of points this morning, momentarily diving below 8,000 (with a 600+ drop) to under 8,000. Right now (9:48 a.m.), it's down 262 points at 8,316 points (down 3%). Nasdaq is currently down 1.5% and the S&P 500 is down 2.7%. more ›

Well, neither talk of the government taking ownership stakes in banks or yesterday's interest rate cut has helped stem the stock market's slide. Today, the Dow Jones Industrial fell 7.2% to close at 8,589 points, under 9,000 for the first time in five years. The Nasdaq fell 5.47% and the S&P 500 fell 7.5%. more ›

Continuing the chain reaction of global markets falling--due to worries about the banking and credit crisis--the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen below 10,000 for the first time in four years. The NY Times reports " The index has lost more than 1,100 points — or about 10 percent — in slightly more than a week." The S&P 500 is currently down alost 5% and the Nasdaq is down over 5% (check here). more ›

After gaining back about half of Monday's big losses yesterday, the stock market opened lower this morning. Right now, the Dow and S&P 500 are down almost 2% (Dow is down 200 points), as investors wait for the Senate to vote on a modified bailout plan today--and GE's profit estimates were cut. Still, data from ADP says the US cut only 8,000 jobs last month--a "surprisingly low" figure. more ›