Jittery Market Stays Put; Oil Slides Below $70

Major indexes hovered cautiously around their starting points, as a Washington meeting between Ben Bernanke, Chris Dodd and Hank Paulson allayed traders' concerns that an academic Fed is callous to Wall Street's ongoing credit crunch. Winners outnumbered losers 3 to 2, but the Dow was off 30.49 to close at 13,090.86.

Beleaguered mortgage-broker Countrywide jumped on rumors that Warren Buffett may buy shares, while crude slipped $1.65 to $69.47 after Dean proved less disruptive than expected to oil shipments. Tech was strong across the board, but finance led the charge: The Nasdaq climbed 12.71 to 2521.30, and the S&P hopped 1.57 to 1447.12. The Washington meeting confirmed the Fed's zealous protection of interest rates, which may deter traders even after four consecutive days of meager gains. (More Dow Jones stories.)