Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 10, 2008; Page A01
Fear and foreboding took hold on Wall Street
yesterday, as the stock market again plunged and investors became
convinced that the nation is on the verge of a deep and prolonged
recession. The rout continued in Japan, where stocks plummeted in early
trading.
The government took steps toward an extraordinary public investment in U.S. banks and General Motors stock fell to its lowest price since 1950 on fears it will not be able to weather the downturn. Share prices fell across every industry and for each of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average, which was down 679 points, or 7.3 percent, to 8579.19.
But the plummeting stock market could not be blamed on any single piece of horrible news -- there were no additional bank failures or government bailouts or corporate bankruptcies.
"I've never seen a panic like this," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. "I've seen stock market drops, but not an overall panic."
The broad Standard & Poor's 500 fell 7.6 percent, the seventh
consecutive day of misery on Wall Street. The index has now fallen 42
percent from its all-time high one year ago yesterday and 22 percent
this month alone. Stocks are on track for their worst calendar year
since 1937.
Fear from Wall Street flooded into Asia on Friday, where markets were
dramatically lower in early trading. Japan's benchmark Nikkei average
plunged more than 10 percent, Australia markets slid more than 7
percent and South Korea stocks were down about 8 percent.
ear from Wall Street flooded into Asia on Friday, where markets were
dramatically lower in early trading. Japan's benchmark Nikkei average
plunged more than 10 percent, Australia markets slid more than 7
percent and South Korea stocks were down about 8 percent.
