NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average experienced another one-day record drop on Oct. 7, plunging 800 points, and then recovering some of that ground but closing down nearly 370 points.
Worried investors appear not to have much confidence in $700 billion rescue plan recently passed and as a result, the markets have taken a beating for most of Oct. 7, the Associated Press reported. For the first time since 2004, the Dow dropped below 10,000 with all the major indexes falling more than 7%. Dow Jones industrials closed at 9,955.50, down 3.58%, or 369.88 points. The other major market indexes posted similar percentage loses at the close.
Despite some advisers' suggestions to stay in it for the long haul, investors are selling stocks at a record pace, according to the AP. That was evident on the New York Stock Exchange on the day the Dow descended, as 3,155 stocks dropped and only 67 rose. Stocks are also on a downward spiral in Europe and Asia, according to the news wire.
"The fact is people are scared and the only thing they're doing is selling," Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research, told the AP. "Investors are cleaning out portfolios and getting rid of everything because nothing seems to be working."
On Sept. 30, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 778.8 points following legislators initial rejection of the $700 billion plan to revive the nation's financial system.
--msamaad@cutimes.com
