Sept. 15, 2008
Stocks plummeted Monday, in response to Lehman Brothers filing the largest bankruptcy in American history.
Other contributing factors were AIG’s money-making fears, and the announcement that Bank of America is planning to buy Merill Lynch.
The Dow Jones lost 504 points, its biggest loss since six days post-9/11. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at their lowest points since Sept. 17, 2001 and Oct. 27, 2005, respectively.
James King, president and chief investment officer at National Penn Investors Trust Company, told CNNMoney, “It was an ugly day…investor confidence is at the lowest point we’ve seen in a while.”
King told CNNMoney that all of these pitfalls, along with last week’s government buyout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was simply too much for investors to handle.
On a note that will please consumers and drivers, oil prices fell below US$100, the dollar played well against the euro, and gold price spiked.
King also told CNNMoney, bad news may still be coming.
Sachin Seth is the Blast Magazine world news reporter. He writes the Terra blog. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/sachinseth
I believe I speak for all investors when I say I hope this isn’t followed by a “Blackest Tuesday.” It is a shame that Congress could not pass an acceptable bill – they had to have known that panic would have ensued.
This video, about the reasons behind the crash, is interesting:
Blackest Monday