The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its largest one-day loss ever, leaving few bright spots in the world of exchange traded funds (ETFs).
The Dow today plunged 777 points, by far surpassing the previous record of 684.81, set in the first trading day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, reports Tim Paradis for the Associated Press. The ETF that tracks the S&P 500, SPDRs Trust, Series 1 (SPY), suffered its biggest percentage loss ever as it fell 7.5%.
Here’s how the three major indexes (Dow, Nasdaq, S&P 500) looked over the course of the day:
The morning already started off in negative territory, and worsened as the House voted down a $700 billion bailout package. The failure means that no one knows how the financial sector is going to recover. No one believed that the plan was a magic bullet, but it was seen as a start.
What’s next for the bailout remains to be seen. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will meet with President Bush to discuss the next step. Meanwhile, Paulson has vowed to protect the financial markets, says Martin Crutsinger for the Associated Press.