Wild Swings End Ruinous Week

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 10, 2008 3:46 PM CDT

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Wild Swings End Ruinous Week — The new Infusion roller coaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, England, Tuesday May 1, 2007, which stand alongside The Big One, rear left. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Stocks swung erratically at the conclusion of today's trading session, with the Dow rebounding from a dip below 8,000 on an early 700-point plunge and making a quick trip into positive territory. The Dow and S&P 500 eventually recorded their worst weekly drops on record. The Dow fell 128.00 to 8,451.19. The Nasdaq actually gained 4.39, closing at 1,649.51, and the S&P 500 lost 10.70, settling at 899.22.

Despite this week's coordinated action, central banks have seemingly been unable to ease the flow of credit, although many analysts contend fear may be guiding the markets more than fact at this point. "I've never seen a credit market like this one," one broker told MarketWatch. "The fear has gotten way ahead of the fundamentals."

For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 both fell 18.2%, and the Nasdaq lost 15.3%.

(More Dow Jones stories.)

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