Take it as a sign that the worst is yet to come:
Shares on Wall Street closed at their lowest levels in five years on Wednesday as hope dimmed in Washington for an emergency bailout of the auto industry.
The late-day sell-off came in frenzy amid growing fears of deflation.
The Dow Jones settled below 8,000 for the first time since 2003, dropping 427.47 points or 5 percent to 7,990. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was 6.1 percent lower. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 6.5 percent.
“It’s painful,” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor’s. “A lot of people have pulled a lot of cash out. They’re sitting on the side. It’s all I hear all day: ‘Where can I hide?’ ”
All corners of the market were down, but the financial, transportation and consumer sectors took the heaviest blows. Financial stocks were down an average of 9 percent over the day, and the banking giant Citigroup dropped 22 percent.
Auto shares fell as the leaders of the three American automakers reprised their appearance on Capitol Hill to discuss an emergency bailout and the threat of bankruptcy. General Motors was down 10 percent, to $2.78 a share, and the Ford Motor Company was down 24 percent, to $1.27.
By late Wednesday, it seemed clear the automakers would leave Washington without the $25 billion in federal aid the companies contend is critical to their long-term survival.
Crude oil prices settled at a 22-month low at $53.62 a barrel, and energy stocks followed them lower. Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Conoco Phillips and other major oil companies were all down.
And here’s how the Dow has performed since this debacle’s unofficial start on September 22nd:
That’s a drop of 3018.41 points, or 27.40%, over the course of less than two months.
