KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video - Dow Jones Falls More Than 500 Points
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Wall Street has had yet another dismal day, extending its heavy losses as investors' worries about the financial sector wiped out early enthusiasm over the Federal Reserve's efforts to inject confidence into the credit markets.
Trading remained fractious and grew more turbulent in the last hour, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing more than 500 points and all the major indexes falling more than 5%.
This latest plunge, which followed a big drop on Monday, came after Bank of America Corp. reported its third-quarter profits fell 68%. The market's gloom was also fed by comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who warned that the financial crisis could prolong the difficulty the economy is facing.
The Dow is down 508, or 5.11%, at the 9,447 level, after falling nearly 370 Monday. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 5.73% and the Nasdaq composite index is down 5.80%.
Meanwhile, President Bush says "we are in tough, tough times," even as he tries to assure the public that the economy will eventually bounce back.
Bush says it will take time to recover from the crisis that has threatened financial markets around the world. In speech at an office supply company in Virginia, Bush told his audience that he wished he could just snap his fingers and "make what happened stop." But he says "that's not the way it works."
Bush has pressed European leaders to coordinate their efforts to ease the financial crisis that is spreading around the globe.
The finance ministers from the so-called G-7 will hold a previously scheduled meeting later this week. The White House says it is also open to the idea of an emergency international leaders' summit on the economic upheaval.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
