Bushonomics: Wall Street tumbles amid global sell-off

Trader James Hamill works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before the closing bell, on 3 October (Friday) 2008.

6 October 2008

By JOE BEL BRUNO

NEW YORK -Wall Street is down sharply in early trading, with the Dow Jones industrials down more than 200 points amid steep declines in global markets around the world. Investors are worried the credit crisis is spreading.

Investors are realizing that the Bush administration's $700 billion rescue plan won't work quickly to unfreeze credit markets, and many banks are still having difficulty gaining access to cash. European governments also took steps over the weekend to limit the damage from the growing global financial crisis.

Bank of America trading specialist Scott Wetzel works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, on 3 October 2008.

The Federal Reserve also took fresh steps to help ease credit markets. The central bank said Monday it will begin paying interest on commercial banks' reserves and will expand its loan program to squeezed banks.

The Dow Jones industrials are down 213 points at the 10,112 level.

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Further Reading:
U.S. calls for united front as crisis wrecks markets