Stocks nosedive on not much news - just fear

The Dow has fallen around 7 percent since the Fed offered a downbeat assessment Wednesday of where the economy is heading. The conclusion was hardly news - economists have been quite gloomy about the so-called recovery - but the fact that the central bank was in effect throwing in the towel took investors aback. That, along with continued fears out of Europe, were more than enough to keep the markets in the red. Stocks opened lower and never came close to recovering. The Dow closed down 391 points, or 3.5 percent. The day also saw a significant drop in commodity prices (oil futures fell $5.60, to $80.30 a barrel, another sign that the market expects slow growth. (NYT)