Spooked by Italy, Dow Falls 228

Silvio Berlusconi's promises to resign haven't done much to calm European markets—or Wall Street. The Dow opened sharply lower today on the news that Italian bond yields spiked above 7%, the level that caused Greece, Portugal, and Ireland to seek bailouts; Italy's debt, however, is too big to bail out, notes the AP. The Dow sank 228 points, bringing it below 12,000 to 11,943, reports MarketWatch. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped 28 and 62 points, respectively. (More Dow Jones stories.)