MarketWatch: And the Beating Goes On.....

[marmar]

U.S. stock indexes tank as crude touches new high
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac shares under siege; Paulson: no bailout on horizon

By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch


NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks sank on Friday, with the Dow industrials falling below the 11,000 level for the first time since August 2006, as oil topped $147 a barrel and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson rejected the idea of an imminent bailout of mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"Freddie and Fannie are going under the waves and GE got us ready for what we're going to be listening to: in-line number, lackluster guidance. Other than with financials next week, where we get no guidance and have no idea where we're going," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 212.26 points, or 1.9%, to 11,016.76, with all but two of its 30 components succumbing and financials paving the way. American International Group Inc. dropped the most, recently off 7.2%.

Shares of General Electric Co. tilted slightly higher after the conglomerate affirmed its 2008 outlook and reported results that met forecasts. The Dow component also said it would sell its Japanese consumer lending unit for $5.4 billion.

The S&P 500 dropped 21.33 points, or 1.7%, to 1,232.06, with all 10 of the index's industry groups falling, led by financials, down 4.4%.

The Nasdaq Composite skidded 34.36 points, or 1.5%, to 2,223.49.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange approached 724 million, and decliners topped advancers 4 to 1. On the Nasdaq, 412 million shares traded, and decliners outpaced advancers more than 2 to 1. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-stocks-drop-sharply-oil/story.aspx?guid=%7BE1C56925%2D447E%2D4FE4%2DAA3F%2DD549DADB1385%7D

[Blue_In_AK]

1. I'm SO glad we took our IRAs out of the stock market

a while ago. This is just brutal.