Wall Street opened this morning and resumed its descent as stock and exchange traded fund (ETF) investors remain worried about the global credit crisis and what looks like a broad global selloff, despite the passage of a $700 billion bailout last week.
Fears center on the fact that the bailout effects aren’t going to be seen immediately, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average below the 10,000 mark for the first time in four years, reports Joe Bel Bruno for the Associated Press. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has pledged a rapid response to the crisis.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is just about back to where it was 10 years ago:
Over the weekend, European governments scrambled to boost failing banks. The German government agreed on a $68 billion bailout for a commercial property lender, while one French bank is bailing out another after a government bailout failed. The governments in Germany, Ireland and Greece also said they would guarantee bank deposits.
Paulson said that he’s going to name Neel Kashkari to oversee the U.S. bailout, Jessica Hall reports for Reuters. Kashkari, who will head the Office of Financial Stability, is a Treasury assistant secretary for international affairs and a former Goldman Sachs banker.
Economic fears continue to drag down oil and its related ETFs: it dipped below $90 a barrel for the first time in eight months, reports Stevenson Jacobs for the Associated Press. Prices have dropped nearly 40% since July. The U.S. dollar is showing new signs of life, too, aiding in the effort to bring down prices.
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