Dow Plunges 280, Erases Quarter of Year's Gains

2009 the best year for the market since 2003

(NEWSER) - Stocks are expected to rise this week, capping off Wall Street’s best year in recent memory. It’s the first time in two years that stocks have posted annual growth, and for the S&P 500, it could be the best year since 2003. Though the economy is far from healthy, investors think economic indicators will keep improving, Reuters reports. “There’s an upward bias,” says the head of one investment firm. More»

To be fair, they've already had the worst two-day stretch since 1987

(NEWSER) - The economy lost 240,000 jobs in October, bringing unemployment to 6.5%, its highest rate since 1994. It was the 10th-straight negative month, bringing the year’s losses to 1.2 million. But the staggering report did little to move the needle on Wall Street, as the Dow actually rose 136 points before settling back. The S&P and Nasdaq saw similar modest gains of 1.3% and 1.4% respectively. More»

Drop isn't as bad as feared, and rate cuts abroad cheer US traders

(NEWSER) - Stocks jumped at the opening bell, as international rallies helped offset a shrinking US economy, the Wall Street Journal reports. Gross domestic product shrank at a seasonally adjusted 0.3% annual rate from July to September; the not-as-bad-as-feared figure sent the Dow up 201 points at the open before dipping back downward. The S&P and Nasdaq saw 1.8% and 2.5% gains of their own. More»

Investors worry about impact on consumers

(NEWSER) - Stocks zoomed downward today as oil topped $123 a barrel, hastening a sell-off by anxious investors. "You can still get a lot of nervousness when they see these daily moves in crude, along with follow-through in the stock market," an analyst tells the Wall Street Journal. The Dow ended down 206.48 to 12,814.35, the Nasdaq 44.82 to 2,438.49, and the S&P 25.69 to 1,392.57. More»

It's Dow's best finish since 2008

(NEWSER) - Today's rosy jobs report did wonders for the markets. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, in fact, closed at an 11-year high, reports MarketWatch , while the Dow finished at its highest level since May 2008, notes the Wall Street Journal . The numbers:

• Dow: Up 157, 1.2%, to 12,862
• Nasdaq: Up 46, 1.6%, to 2,906
• S&P 500: Up 19, 1.5%, to 1,345