Dow falls 382 as Wall Street boos bailout plan
Waves of selling batter stocks because investors want more details from Treasury Secretary Geithner's bank rescue plan. The Senate approves a huge stimulus bill. GM plans to cut 10,000 jobs. Intel will spend $7 billion to upgrade plants.
[Related content: stocks, investments, stock market, financial crisis, economy]
By Charley Blaine and Elizabeth Strott
Investors were quick to tell the Obama administration what they thought of its plan to save the financial system: Where's the beef?
The result was the biggest loss for stocks not just since President Obama took office but since Dec. 1, when the Dow Jones industrials fell 680 points.
The Dow finished down 382 points, or 4.6%, to 7,889. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was off 43 points, or 4.9%, to 827, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was off 67 points, or 4.2%, to 1,525.
All of the 30 Dow stocks were lower. Just eight S&P 500 stocks were higher, along with only two stocks in the Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX.X), which tracks the largest Nasdaq stocks. The index was down 52 points, or 4.1%, to 1,229.
Expediters International of Washington (EXPD, news, msgs), the freight management company, led the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100 with 6.1% gain to $32.30.
Today's losses came despite the Senate's approval of an $838 billion economic stimulus plan.
The sell-off abruptly ended an uptick that saw the Dow rise 334 points over the previous five sessions and the Nasdaq actually show a gain for the year. The Nasdaq's gain, however, was wiped out today.
The sell-off hit financial stocks the hardest because of the uncertainties about whether the administration's plans included nationalizing some of the most troubled banks.
Originally Posted by Burton13
Bookmarks