Stocks, Oil Plunge After Congress Rejects Bailout
Sept. 29 U.S. stocks plunged 777 points and oil plunged and Treasury bonds rallied the most in two weeks after U.S. lawmakers rejected the Bush administration's $700 billion financial rescue.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell as much as 7.2 percent, the most since Oct. 26, 1987, as 490 companies declined. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed markets sank 5.9 percent, the steepest decline in the measure's 38-year history. Trading on Brazil's Bovespa was halted after the main stock index plummeted 10 percent. The euro and the pound sank and bonds rose as governments raced to prop up banks infected by growing U.S. mortgage losses. Crude futures tumbled more than $11 a barrel.
``This was sold as the last straw, the thing that was going to fix everything and it looked like it was going to pass,'' said Walter ``Bucky'' Hellwig, who helps oversee $30 billion at Morgan Asset Management in Birmingham, Alabama. ``There's disappointment that we have this continued stress in the financial sector.''
imo congress is playing with fire.
they might want to reconsider.
NT