U.S. Stocks Drop in Rollercoaster Day; Dow Swings 1,000 Points

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Source: Bloomberg.com

By Lynn Thomasson

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell for an eighth straight day in a whipsaw session that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its biggest point swing ever.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index capped its worst week since 1933, as concern that the financial crisis will send the global economy into a recession pushed Morgan Stanley, CBS Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. down more than 8 percent. The Dow recovered from a 697 point tumble and rose as much as 322 points in the last hour after an industry group said the bankruptcy auction of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s debt won't worsen credit losses.

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The S&P 500's eight-day losing streak is its longest since 1996. This week's declines pushed both the S&P 500 and Dow down more than 40 percent from their peaks last October. The S&P 500 ended the week trading for 17 times reported earnings of its companies, the cheapest valuation in more than a year.

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``The problem is the rules of valuation no longer exist,'' said Pierre-Yves Gauthier, founding partner of Alphavalue SAS in Paris. ``It's best to remain cautious. The economic slowdown is here. A recession could be heavy.''



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