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Dow in 350-point tumble Blue-chip indicator ends at a 21-month low as crude hits record high above $140 a barrel. Goldman Sachs' downgrades of investment banks, GM drag on markets. By Catherine Clifford, CNNMoney.com staff writer Last Updated: June 26, 2008: 5:48 PM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Dow plummeted more than 350 points Thursday as selling accelerated following a record surge in oil prices. The three major indexes took a beating right out of the gate after Goldman Sachs downgraded two key Dow components, and two tech leaders disappointed investors. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) shed 358.41...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Why is General Motors still in the Dow? GM (GM, Fortune 500) may still be the biggest of the Big Three. But it's getting more and more difficult to justify keeping GM in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an exclusive list of what's supposed to be the 30 leaders in the U.S. markets and economy. GM confirmed on Monday that it is looking into selling its Hummer brand of monstrously-sized vehicles. And in a major sign of desperation, it also announced that it would offer six-year, zero-percent loans for 2008 models until the end of June...

The price of oil surged 3 percent after OPEC President Chakib Khelil said in an interview that oil prices could rise to as much as $170 per barrel this summer.

The threat of up to $10bn (£5bn) in further banking writedowns on the back of serious downgrades to the world's two largest bond insurers sent shares in New York tumbling to levels not seen since March. Credit ratings agency Moody's decision to remove MBIA and Ambac's prized Aaa ratings saw the shares values of the two "monoline" insurers fall by 13pc and 6pc respectively. The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 200 points in late trading, falling well below the psychologically important 12,000 level and down 10.6 pc year-to-date. The broader S&P500 index also hit a three-month...

The Dow took a 325 point plunge on Friday as Wall Street reacts to an unprecedented $10 surge in crude oil prices and the largest one-month rise in the nation's unemployment rate in two decades. Today's Market As of 2:46 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 317.46 points, or 2.52% to 12286.26, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 31.88 points, or 2.27%, to 1372.17 and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 61.54 points, or 2.41%, to 2488.40. The consumer-friendly Fox 50 fell 21.92 points, or 2.22%, to 964.53. It didn't take long for Wall Street to erase all...

Dow Industrials Move Close To Wiping Out Year's Losses May 1, 2008 4:26 p.m. Investors bet heavily on consumers rather than commodities Thursday, spurring a heated stock rally that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average near break-even for the year. The Dow ended up 189.87 points, or 1.5%, at 13010.00, despite a 3.6% drop in component Exxon Mobil. The energy giant posted a 17% rise1 in first-quarter net income but missed analysts' expectations, as high crude-oil prices faced off against lower refining and chemical margins, lower production volumes and higher operating costs. The blue-chip average's year-to-date loss dwindled to 1.9%....

U.S. stocks on Tuesday celebrated the start of a new quarter, rallying as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s equity offer drew a warm reception, fueling the Dow to its 8th-biggest point jump ever. "Clearly there is a recognition the credit markets are healing -- usually stocks begin to rally about six months before the end of a slowdown," said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief market strategist at LPL Financial Services. "And with earning season less than a week away, and we haven't heard a flood of negative pre-announcements," Kleintop said. The Dow industrials climbed 391.47 points, or 3.2%, to 12,654.36, with all 30...

Depression postponed!

Daily Market Commentary for March 28, 2008 from Millennium-Traders.Com It was a slow, sluggish and listless market session today with stocks moving in a very snug range that began late morning. Stocks merely drifted lower through out the trading day, with the major indices moving into lows of the session during late afternoon. Economic data released today did little for the mood of the markets, it simply was blasé. Day traders and investors seem tired from the week of trading and many cut their trading day short to get a jump start on a desperately needed weekend break. At the...

Richard Band is not someone who makes outlandish predictions just to get headlines. So I sat up and took notice earlier this week when he wrote to subscribers of his Profitable Investing newsletter that the stock market was ready to "rocket higher" in an "uptrend that could carry the blue chip indexes to all-time highs by late 2008 or early 2009. Dow 16,000 here we come!" The Hulbert Financial Digest (HFD) has been tracking Band's newsletter since the beginning of 1991. Over the subsequent 17 years, his recommended portfolio has been 35% less volatile than the overall stock market, as...

NEW YORK - Wall Street barreled higher Tuesday as investors found relief in better-than-expected results from Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, and anticipated a massive interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.The Dow Jones industrial average surged 300 points.Investors, while they've seen a number of huge advances amid the market's recent volatility, appeared considerably more upbeat than in the past few days. They're confident that when the Fed's meeting lets out at 2:15 p.m. EDT, it will reduce the target federal funds rate by a full point, bringing the rate to 2 percent.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street stormed higher Tuesday as investors, optimistic following stronger-than-expected earnings from two big investment banks, were also galvanized by the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 420 points, its biggest one-day point gain in more than five years. Many investors were expecting the Fed to cut rates a full point, but appeared to overcome their early disappointment, especially since a 0.75 point cut is still substantial. The central bank's benchmark fed funds rate is now at 2.25 percent -- its lowest level...

The Labor Department says employers slashed jobs by 63,000 in February, the most since March 2003. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.8 percent as people leave the labor force. Confidence in the economy dropped to a new low as worries about a possible recession, persistent problems in the housing and credit markets and lofty energy prices put people in a more gloomy mind-set.

The S&P 500 finishes under its Jan. 22 closing low, and the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 index reach 52-week lows as worries about financial stocks grow on reports of margin defaults. Friday's jobs report becomes very important. Oil tops $105.... clip... Deepening worries about financial stocks hit the market today, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell below a key level, leaving many analysts worried that stocks may be headed even lower. The S&P 500 finished the day at 1,304.34, down nearly 30 points, or 2.2%. More importantly, it closed under 1,310.50 -- its Jan. 22 low. Until today...

Stocks slide as investors scramble for safety By Michael Mackenzie and Saskia Scholtes in New York Published: February 29 2008 19:08 | Last updated: February 29 2008 21:10 Stock prices and bond yields tumbled on Friday as fears about the stability of the financial system sent investors scrambling for the safety of government debt. The yield on the two-year Treasury note dropped to its lowest level in nearly four years, while the S&P 500 stock index fell 2.7 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.5 per cent. Traders said sharp falls in the prices of mortgage bonds...

Selling has accelerated this morning as stocks have hit session lows on the latest ugly economic data and a huge loss from insurance giant AIG. Today's sell-off has put the Dow and S&P on pace for their fourth consecutive monthly losses -- something that hasn't happened since 2002. Today's Market As of 11:17 a.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 204.83 points, or 1.63% to 12376.95, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 23.48 points, or 1.72% to 1344.18 and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 40.51 points, or 1.74%, to 2291.22. The consumer-friendly Fox 50 fell 14.74 points, or...

Wall Street did not react well to new data showing the U.S. service sector unexpectedly and sharply contracted in January. The blue-chip index followed yesterday's sell-off with a much-larger 370-point plunge -- the worst loss on a percentage basis in nearly a year. Today’s Market The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 370.03 points, or 2.93% to 12265.13, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 44.18 points, or 3.20% to 1336.64 and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 73.28, or 3.08%, to 2309.57. The consumer-friendly Fox 50 dropped 29.84, or 3.06%, to 943.95. Today's decline was steady and began just before the...

A torrid rally in financial stocks resurrected a wheezing stock market, which suffered from recession fears but then rejoiced at a possible bailout of bond insurers by New York regulators. The Dow Jones Industrial Average languished with a 326-point loss at its early-afternoon nadir, but finished up 298.98 points, or 2.5%, at 12270.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 ended up 2.1%, or 28.10 points, at 1338.60. The broad measure's financial sector led the way, up more than 7%, with most of the gains coming in the wake of afternoon reports that New York state regulators were meeting with Wall Street...

"Wall Street pulled off a stunning comeback Wednesday, surging higher in late trading and wiping out what looked to be yet another precipitous decline. The Dow Jones industrials, down more than 323 points in earlier trading, ended the day with an advance of just under 300 points, according to preliminary calculations." That's a lot more complimentary than ABC News radio which called today's comeback, "an erratic day on Wall St."

Index Value: 12,162.38 Trade Time: 3:29PM ET Change: Up 191.19 (1.60%) Prev Close: 11,971.19 Open: 11,969.08 Day's Range: 11645.63 - 12163.44 52wk Range: 11,508.70 - 14,280.00

Cramer started Friday's show with his "Game Plan", but this segment focused on a Game Plan for the Fed and government instead of the stock market. Cramer doesn't like the stimulus packages being discussed in the White House and Congress, so he offered his own plan. He says that the reason stocks are dropping is that there is a fear that bond insurers will go out of business in the next few days or weeks because they are out of cash. They have $500 billion in potential claims, and they don't have enough money to pay out the claims. If...

Stocks Extend Slide As Manufacturing Index Falls; Bond Insurers Fall Amid Fears of Losses NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks skidded lower Thursday after a regional Federal Reserve report showed a sharp decline in manufacturing activity and as investors grew concerned that downgrades of key bond insurers could trigger further trouble with souring debt. ADVERTISEMENT Some of the major indexes were off more than 2 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which at times fell more than 300 points. Stocks opened higher but quickly gave up their gains after the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its survey of regional manufacturing activity...

Stocks reeled and long-dated Treasurys jumped following a fresh round of hefty write-downs by banks and signs that mortgage insurers' credit ratings may be slashed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 231.02 points Thursday afternoon, down 1.9%, at 12235.14. The Russell 2000 was off 2.4%, or 16.57 points, at 683.34. The small-stock indicator, which includes many companies that rely heavily on a robust U.S. economy, is now off 20% from its July highs, the traditional threshold defining a bear market. Prices for 10-year and 30-year U.S. government debt soared as investors sought safe havens. Traders said it appears investors

Wall Street advanced sharply Monday, with solid preliminary results from IBM encouraging investors to go back into the stock market after last week's rout.International Business Machines Corp., one of the 30 Dow Jones industrials, released preliminary earnings estimates for the fourth quarter that were 24 percent above year-earlier levels. The results also beat the forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.After falling nearly 250 points on Friday, the Dow rose more than 170 points Monday."The market was pretty oversold," said Richard E. Cripps, chief market strategist for Stifel Nicolaus. "We were due to bounce back, and the IBM news didn't...

Stocks make a big comeback A sudden rally hits Wall Street after days of selling and a gloomy economic forecast from Goldman Sachs. Financial stocks rebound. And crude oil moves lower. Alcoa kicks off earnings season after the bell. [BRIEFING.COM] Buyers are coming off the sidelines, sending the major indices to their best levels of the session. Only telecom (-0.3%) remains in negative territory. Tech (+1.8%) is play a large role in the recent gains as is... More A sudden, powerful rally kicked in this afternoon, reversing the waves of selling that have plagued the stock market since New Year's....

Dow drops 300 after Fed cuts rates Tue Dec 11, 3:53 PM ET The Dow Jones industrial average has plunged more than 300 points as investors disappointed by the Federal Reserve's rate cut sold off stocks. In late afternoon trading, the Dow is down 303.61 to 13,423.42. The Fed lowered its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, disappointing some investors who hoped the central bank would take more aggressive measures. The Dow Jones industrial average, which had been up about 40 points before the decision, fell 300 points. Investors had been expecting policymakers would cut rates for a third...

Wall St at highest level in a monthCitigroup offloads assets from SIVsCitigroup has slashed the size of its struggling off-balance-sheet investment funds by more than $15bn in two months through quiet side deals with some junior investors, according to people familiar with the business UBS takes new $10bn subprime hitBank turns to Singapore fund WaMu wields axe in wake of credit crisis$1.6bn writedown for home lending unit MBIA gets $1bn injection from Warburg

Wall Street Has 2nd Straight Rally on Rate Cut Hopes, Signs That Financials Are Finding Cash NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street barreled higher Wednesday for the second day in a row, propelling the Dow Jones industrials up more than 300 points after a Federal Reserve official hinted that the central bank may lower interest rates again. Investors' renewed hopes for a rate cut added to their relief that companies that made losing bets on subprime mortgages, such as Citigroup Inc. and Freddie Mac, are coming up with ways to raise cash. Early Wednesday, Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn told...

The Dow closed with its best two-day performance since 2002, as stocks urged more than 331 points on Wednesday on hopes of another interest rate cut. Today's Markets The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 331.01 points, or 2.55% to 13289.45, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index picked up 40.79 points, or 2.86% to 1469.02 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 82.11, or 3.18%, to 2662.91. The consumer-friendly Fox 50 gained 27.15, or 2.62%, to 1062.18. The three major indexes closed more than 2% higher, building on Tuesday's 215 point rally on the Dow. This is the first time that stocks...

Wall Street finally heard good news from the economy's problem areas of the financial sector, the housing market and even oil prices. The market responded accordingly with a 319 point rally on the Dow and a nearly 3.5% jump on the Nasdaq Composite. Today's Markets The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 319.54 points, or 2.46% to 13307.09. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 41.87 points, or 2.91%, to 1481.05 and the Nasdaq Composite Index picked up 89.52 points, or 3.46%, to 2673.65. The consumer-friendly Fox 50 rose 32.46 points, or 3.15%, to 1062.63. After four consecutive losing days...

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks headed to a lower open Friday after Wachovia Corp. said it expects to increase quarterly loan losses..... The nation's fourth-largest bank said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that credit market volatility could cause a $1.1 billion write-down for October alone. The problem stems from its asset-backed securities, such as collateralized debt obligations, that have lost value on sinking investor demand.The market was also on edge after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that policy makers expect the economy to "slow noticeably" this quarter. His comments caused major indexes to fall...

NEW YORK - Wall Street suffered its second big drop in a week Wednesday, with investors worried about spreading fallout from the credit crisis at banks and about a dollar that just keeps getting weaker. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 360 points — just about matching its plunge of last Thursday. A passel of worries tormented investors, including the dollar, which swooned amid speculation that China will seek to diversify some of its foreign currency stockpiles beyond the greenback. Meanwhile, a record loss from General Motors Corp. owing to an accounting adjustment further dragged on sentiment. Oil...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Dow industrials suffered one of its biggest declines of the year Thursday, plummeting more than 360 points after a Citigroup downgrade served as a blunt reminder to Wall Street that the credit market crisis is not over. The Dow Jones industrial average (Charts) finished 362 points, or about 2.6 percent, lower based on early tallies. The broader S&P 500 index (Charts) lost 2.6 percent, while the tech-fueled Nasdaq slipped nearly 2.3 percent. Trading curbs remained active on the New York Stock Exchange after going into effect early in the session to limit the market's downside....

Wall Street plunged Thursday (362.14), pulling the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 360 points as investors found themselves confronted by two uncomfortable prospects: an end to interest rate cuts and a slowing economy.

FWI... Futures ... Dow Jones -85.00 NASDAQ - 14.50 S & P -8.30 NIKKEI -550 See http://money.cnn.com/data/premarket/ and www.yahoo.com US dollar down to it lowest:

NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 360 points Friday — the anniversary of the Black Monday crash 20 year ago — as renewed credit concerns, lackluster corporate earnings, and rising oil prices spooked investors.The market turned sharply lower in late afternoon when Standard & Poor's again reduced its ratings on residential mortgage-backed securities. The latest reduction, on more than 1,400 types of securities, added to investors unease about credit quality.In addition, mixed results from Dow components Caterpillar Inc., Honeywell Inc., and 3M Co. gave investors little incentive to take chances on the market. And...

NEW YORK: To the growing list of descriptions for this bull market - like "record-setting," "resilient" and "uninterrupted" - you can add one more: "old." Last week, this bull did something that only four other U.S. stock market rallies since 1942 have accomplished: It lived to see its fifth birthday on Oct. 10. And, on Oct. 23, barring an 11th-hour market plunge, this bull will turn 5 years and 14 days old, surpassing the 1982-87 period as the third-longest bull run in the last 75 years, based on the Dow Jones industrial average. (Based on the Standard & Poor's 500-stock...

The Dow and S&P 500 jumped to close at records on Tuesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed inflation expectations were contained, leaving open the question of whether another rate cut is near. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 120.80 points, or 0.86 percent, to end at 14,164.53 -- a record. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index nded up 12.57 points, or 0.81 percent, at a record 1,565.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 16.54 points, or 0.59 percent, at 2,803.91. During the session, the Dow reached an intraday record high of 14,166.97 and the S&P hit...

Carry trade unwinds as yen hits one-year high An anonymous investor has placed a bet on an index of Europe's top 50 stocks falling by a third by the end of September, as world equity markets plunged for a third day and volatility hit a three-year high. The mystery investor has bought put option contracts on the DJ Eurostoxx 50 index that will result in a profit if it plunges to 2,800 or below by the end of September. Based on the 2,800 strike price, the position covers a notional €6.9bn, and potentially even more using a market price of...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks erased most of the session's losses by late afternoon Thursday, as investors worked through the panic about the credit and mortgage markets that had been sparked by Countrywide Financial's lastest financial problems. The Dow Jones industrial average (Charts) lost a few points, erasing virtually all of the day's declines, according to early tallies. The blue-chip barometer had plunged more than 300 points earlier in the afternoon, before recovering and seesawing up through the close. The broader S&P 500 (Charts) index gained 0.3 percent and the tech-fueled Nasdaq Composite (Charts) index slid 0.3 percent. Both had...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks saw their losses accelerate in early afternoon trade, after news that the Philadelphia Reserve manufacturing index showed no growth in factories in the region in August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 250 points at 12,611, just off a low of 12,591.

Wall Street plunged again Thursday after problems at Countrywide Financial Corp. confirmed fears of widening credit woes and the Federal Reserve injected $17 billion into the banking system. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 250 points.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street plunged again Thursday after a French bank said it was freezing three funds that invested in U.S. subprime mortgages because it was unable to properly value their assets. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 380 points, according to preliminary calculations. The announcement by BNP Paribas raised the specter of a widening impact of U.S. credit market problems. The idea that anyone -- institutions, investors, companies, individuals -- can't get money when they need it unnerved a stock market that has suffered through weeks of volatility triggered by concerns about tight credit and bad...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Dow industrials surged 286 points Monday, posting its biggest point gain of the year, helped by financial sector strength just ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 262.24 to 13,444.15, Charts) soared 286 points, or 2.16 percent, based on early tallies, rebounding from a 281 point late session selloff Friday. The broader S&P 500 (up 31.47 to 1,464.53, Charts) gained 2.4 percent while the tech-laden Nasdaq composite index (up 31.80 to 2,543.05, Charts) climbed 1.4 percent. Treasury prices retreated, raising the benchmark yield on the 10-year note rising to...

NEW YORK - If you're baffled by Wall Street's performance this past week, consider the increasing influence hedge funds have in manipulating the market. Investors spent another anxiety-ridden week watching last-minute triple-digit swings in the Dow Jones industrials, driven in part by worries about credit drying up and further subprime mortgage losses. But, while it looks like the market gyrates solely on fears about credit issues, market watchers say it is more complicated than that.

By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer 2 hours, 2 minutes ago NEW YORK - Wall Street extended its steep decline Friday, propelling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 500 points over two days after investors gave in to mounting concerns that borrowing costs would climb for both companies and homeowners. It was the worst week for the Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index in five years. ADVERTISEMENT Investors cast aside a stronger-than-expected read on the economy and maintained negative sentiment that dominated Thursday when the market shuddered amid worries over the U.S. mortgage and corporate lending markets....

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE CLOSES SESSION AT 14,000