Dow Plunges 449 Points

Stocks plummeted again today as insecurity about the financial system gripped the markets, the Wall Street Journal reports. The AIG bailout proved to be of little comfort to traders, who quickly began betting on the next big firm to fall. The Dow closed down 449.36 points to 10,609.66. The Nasdaq fell 109.05, closing at 2,098.85, and the S&P 500 lost 57.21 points, settling at 1,156.39.

Morgan Stanley sustained a sharp fall despite announcing earnings that topped expectations. It managed to reverse some of those losses, ending down 24.2%, as did Goldman Sachs, which finished down 13.9% after falling almost twice that at mid-day. Partially to protect those firms, the SEC moved to again tighten restrictions on “naked” short selling.
(More Dow Jones stories.)