The Dow closed below 13,000 today after seesawing on bad news from the financial sector and falling oil prices. The Dow finished at 12,987.55, down 55.19, after E*Trade said further mortgage-related write-downs might come—and its shares dropped 56%. The Nasdaq slid 43.81 to close at 2,584.13, and the S&P 500 dropped 14.52 to 1,439.18.
It was a volatile session, the Journal reports, with one executive saying, “You’re not seeing a lot of conviction today.” Crude oil prices fell, and speculation was rife that OPEC might increase output, but that wasn't enough to buoy markets made tentative by last week’s market plunge. Neither was news that Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, and BoA finalized plans for a $100 billion bailout fund. (More Dow Jones stories.)