Financial crisis deepens amid fear of continued stock dive
Wall St. tumbles again as global credit freezes up and more faltering firms seek saviors.
By Martin Zimmerman, Maura Reynolds and Tom Petruno
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 17, 2008
The global financial crisis deepened Wednesday as stock prices cratered and credit markets seized up, teetering financial institutions sought salvation in buyouts and government officials scrambled to find a way out of the mess.
Investors awaited the opening of trading on Wall Street this morning with trepidation, fearing a repeat of the landslide of selling that sent the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling nearly 450 points to its lowest level in almost three years.
"It's a hurricane blowing through" is how strategist Peter Boockvar at New York brokerage Miller Tabak & Co. described the mood on Wall Street. "Close your windows and lock your doors, and don't stick your head out until the storm passes."
Markets around the world have been struggling to cope with the fallout from the collapse of the U.S. housing market, a slow-motion disaster that began almost two years ago and has claimed a growing roster of victims. The mountain of bad mortgages -- and securities derived from those soured loans -- has caused chaos in financial markets, affecting everything from the health of huge financial houses to the ability of consumers to get an auto loan.
Late Wednesday, word came that two more financial giants facing doubts about their ability to remain independent -- New York-based investment bank Morgan Stanley and Seattle-based savings and loan Washington Mutual Inc. -- might soon be acquired.
(Continued here.)
By Martin Zimmerman, Maura Reynolds and Tom Petruno
Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 17, 2008
The global financial crisis deepened Wednesday as stock prices cratered and credit markets seized up, teetering financial institutions sought salvation in buyouts and government officials scrambled to find a way out of the mess.
Investors awaited the opening of trading on Wall Street this morning with trepidation, fearing a repeat of the landslide of selling that sent the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling nearly 450 points to its lowest level in almost three years.
"It's a hurricane blowing through" is how strategist Peter Boockvar at New York brokerage Miller Tabak & Co. described the mood on Wall Street. "Close your windows and lock your doors, and don't stick your head out until the storm passes."
Markets around the world have been struggling to cope with the fallout from the collapse of the U.S. housing market, a slow-motion disaster that began almost two years ago and has claimed a growing roster of victims. The mountain of bad mortgages -- and securities derived from those soured loans -- has caused chaos in financial markets, affecting everything from the health of huge financial houses to the ability of consumers to get an auto loan.
Late Wednesday, word came that two more financial giants facing doubts about their ability to remain independent -- New York-based investment bank Morgan Stanley and Seattle-based savings and loan Washington Mutual Inc. -- might soon be acquired.
(Continued here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home