DOW falls below 8,000 points, levels not seen since 2003

The deepening fear of a global crisis and recession in the US has caused investors to continue selling. The US market falls deeper as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW) closes below the 8,000 mark. The DOW fell 427 points or 5% today at 7,997.28 points. The broader S&P500 index closes 6.1% lower to 806.57. US automaker giants were the latest casualties. More worries as recession might be even more protracted if Capitol Hill is unable to bail out the troubled auto industry.

Ford Motor Co. which is burning in cash shed 25% of its value to close at $1.26 while General Motors closes 9.71%. Financial giant Citigroup falls 23%. Other financial giants like Merril Lynch, JP Morgan, Bank of America falls more than 10%.

Consumer prices plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline pump prices dropped by a record amount. Light Sweet Crude Oil futures is currently at US$53 per barrel. The worry is that the recession, which many analysts believe will worsen in coming months, will further depress prices, hurting such industries as housing, autos and retailing, and contribute to a downward spiral that will feed on itself. Read more at Yahoo Finance.

Asian stock markets are ready for a sell off today. We should be able to see more records broken today in this part of the world.

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