Dow plunges 733 on new disheartening economic data

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The economy lurched deeper into the doldrums Wednesday and took the stock market down with it, sending the Dow Jones industrials to a staggering 733-point loss and erasing any hopes that the convulsions that have shaken Wall Street for a month were over.

The daylong sell-off came as retailers reported the biggest drop in sales in three years and as a Federal Reserve snapshot showed Americans are spending less and manufacturing is slowing around the country.

Piling up losses in a rough final hour of trading, the Dow ended the day down nearly 8 percent — its steepest drop since one week after Black Monday in 1987. The Dow has wiped out all but about 127 points of its record-shattering 936-point gain on Monday of this week.

Earlier this week, after governments around the world announced plans to use trillions of dollars to prop up banks, including a U.S. plan to buy about $250 billion in bank stocks, the market had appeared to be turning around — or at least calming down.

Instead, relentless selling gave the Dow its 20th triple-digit swing in the past 23 trading sessions, an unprecedented run of volatility. The Dow has finished higher on only one day this month. The loss of 733 points is the second-worst ever for the average, topped only by a 778-point decline Sept. 29.

The plunge in stocks put the nation's economic anxiety front-and-center as the two major presidential candidates, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, prepared for their final debate Wednesday night in Hempstead, N.Y.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081015/ap_on_...ancial_meltdown

[bhajishah 4]

Surprise surprise...people signed the mortgage notes and didnt pay like they promised..now we all have to pay....

[kaydee457 13]

Well this is what happens when the socialist liberal democrats delve into soical engineering for vores and paybacks.....

It's just a matter of time until we get the king of all socialist, inexperienced empty suit that in concert with Nancy and Harry will drive this economy into a depression.......

Spread the wealth, huh? Who's this moron that thinks my money is his to give away?

[mendeleev 68]

Wow, Kaydee, checked out from reality are we?

Last I checked, Bernacke, Paulson and Bush aren't Socialists, but they did engineer this socialization of risk after years of privatizing gains. Its really too bad that Wall Street forgot that it isn't good business to make loans that aren't likely to get paid back. But hey, it was their money -- or at least they thought it was. Turns out, it was ours. They and their banker friends on Wall Street have created an incredible mess globally, and we will spend some time cleaning up after it. It is probably going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

The market tanked today precisely when Bernacke said, ""Stabilization of the financial markets is a critical first step, but even if they stabilize as we hope they will, broader economic recovery will not happen right away." The markets didn't like hearing this, even though they know it to be true. With luck, the vigorous intervention by the Fed and Treasury will keep this panic from becoming a second Great Depression. Time will tell. But the rules of the game economically are going to change bigtime, and soon.