A specialist works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. Stocks continued their slide amid more negative economic reports Thursday.
Specialist Elizabeth Rose looks at a screen at her post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008. Volatility returned to Wall Street, with the Dow Jones industrials falling 486 points to the 9,139 level, and all the major indexes tumbling more than 5 percent.
A specialist holds his head as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Oct. 24, 2008. Wall Street capped another difficult week with steep losses Friday, sending the major indexes to their lowest levels in more than five years as markets around the world skidded lower on the belief that a punishing economic recession is at hand.
Trader Robert Duffy works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008.
An investor reacts as he watches a display showing stock prices at a brokerage firm in Hong Kong, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. Hong Kong's benchmark index tumbled in early trading Monday as rescue plans by the U.S. and Europe to bailout the financial sector failed to lift investors' sentiments.
Trader Arthur Cashin wears a "Dow 10,000" hat, which was given out when the Dow Jones Industrial Average first hit 10,000 on March 29, 1999, as he works on the NYSE trading floor Monday Oct. 6, 2008. The Dow dipped back below the 10,000 mark Monday for the first time since Oct. 29, 2004.
A stock broker reacts as he watches share prices at a brokerage in Mumbai, India, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. India's stock market fell to a two-year low Monday amid signs that the U.S.-led financial crisis is spreading to Europe, intensifying worries about a global slowdown.
An investor reacts at a private security company Monday Oct. 6, 2008, in Shanghai, China. Chinese stocks fell Monday amid worries about spreading global fallout from the U.S. financial crisis as investors caught up on recent news following a weeklong national holiday.
An investor reacts as he looks at the stock price monitor at a private security company Monday Oct. 6, 2008, in Shanghai, China.
A broker reacts at the stock market in Frankfurt, central Germany, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008, as the German stock index DAX slipped under 5,500 points. The drop came as world stock markets plunged amid growing investor anxiety that the U.S. financial crisis is enveloping Europe.
Trader reacts to early market moves on the London Stock Exchange and the FTSE100 index at CMC Markets in London, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008 . Britain's benchmark stock index, the FTSE 100, fell 4.62 percent in the first 15 minutes of trading on Monday morning, following a slide in Asian markets as the financial crisis worsened over the weekend. The worst declines were in the banking industry.
A man stands in front of a financial display board in central London, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. Share prices on the London Stock Exchange closed sharply down Monday with the FTSE 100-share index closing down 391.06 points at 4,589.19. Asian and European stock markets plunged as government bank bailouts in the U.S. and Europe failed to alleviate fears that the global financial crisis would depress world economic growth.
A trader gestures as he works on the floor of Brazil's Mercantile and Futures Exchange in Sao Paulo, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. Latin American stocks plunged Monday, led by a precipitous drop in Brazilian shares, on concerns that the world is descending into a severe economic slowdown that could devastate the region's commodities-based economies and set back hard-won gains for the poor.
Traders gesture as they work on the floor at Argentina's Stock and Futures Exchange in Buenos Aires, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. Latin American stocks plunged Monday, led by a precipitous drop in Brazilian shares, on concerns that the world is descending into a severe economic slowdown.
Trader Dudley Devine leans on a phone post on the New York Stock Exchange floor, Monday Oct. 6, 2008. Wall Street suffered through another extraordinary and traumatic session Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials plunging as much as 800 points -- their largest one-day point drop -- before recovering to close with a loss of 370.
Trader Tom Kalikas works on the New York Stock Exchange floor, Monday Oct. 6, 2008. Wall Street joined a sell-off around the world as fears grew that the financial crisis will cascade through economies globally despite bailout efforts by the U.S. and other governments.
A Saudi trader reacts as he looks at the stock market monitor in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. The Saudi Arabia stock market, the largest in the Arab world, was down 7 percent Tuesday, a drop the analysts attribute to the market reacting to precipitous slides in other world markets over the past few days.
Anthony Rinaldi rubs his head as he works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday Oct. 7, 2008. The misery worsened on Wall Street Tuesday, with stocks piling on the losses late in the session and bringing the two-day decline in the Dow Jones industrials to more than 875 points amid escalating worries about credit markets and financial sector.
Trader William Hendricks works in the S&P 500 futures trading pit at the CME Group in Chicago, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008. Stocks coninued to plummet, extending heavy losses as investors' worries about the financial sector wiped out early enthusiasm over the Federal Reserve's efforts to inject confidence into the credit markets.