Dow Plunges 679.95 Points And Recession in USA is Officially Called

The markets had been ticking up slowly for a few trading days, but the plunge today abruptly ended that trend. The Dow lost 679.95 points, the fourth largest one day point drop in history. The S&P and Nasdaq lost more in percentage terms each shedding a hair less then then nine percent. The Dow ended down a little under eight percent.

It also was officially called by the The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) that the United States is in a recession. This was not a surprise. According to the NBER we have been in the recession since the end of last year (December 2007).


http://money.cnn.com
http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/01/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?cnn=yes

"The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 680 points, its fourth-biggest single-session decline on a point basis ever. The decline was 7.7% in percentage terms - the 12th worst percentage one-day decline ever.

Year-to-date, the Dow is down 38.6% and has lost 42.5% from its record close of 14164.53 hit on Oct. 9, 2007.

The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index fell 8.9% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) gave up 9%.
...
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) confirmed what many have long believed - that the nation is in a recession. According to the NBER, the official body that calls economic cycles, the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007.

Markets Last Change
Dow Jones 8,149.09 -679.95 / -7.70%
Nasdaq 1,398.07 -137.50 / -8.95%
S&P 500 816.21 -80.03 / -8.93%"