(Another) Black Day on Wall Street

Trading day's still got several hours left to it, and much can happen between now and then, but the Dow's been going under and over the 11,000 mark all morning. If we land beneath 11K at the end of the day, the psychological impact will probably open the floodgates even more than they've been.

From Bloomberg, mid-day:

U.S. stocks fell and the dollar dropped to a record low against the euro as investors lost confidence in the government's rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the risks of an economic slowdown and faster inflation are increasing.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest U.S. mortgage- finance companies, declined more than 20 percent each. Citigroup Inc. plunged to the lowest level since the company was created through a merger in October 1998. The market pared its decline as oil retreated by more than $6 a barrel.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 14.54 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,213.76 at 11:41 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 111.05, or 1 percent, to 10,944.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 14.72, or 0.7 percent, to 2,198.15. Three stocks fell for each that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

``There's a feeling among investors that there's no place to hide,'' said Joseph Quinlan, the New York-based chief market strategist for the global wealth and investment management division of Bank of America Corp., which oversees $607 billion. ``Sentiment has turned sour globally. It's not just in the U.S., it's across the globe.''