The meltdown in the financial services and insurance sectors hammered stocks across the board. Meanwhile, oil prices tumbled below $95 a barrel. The Dow lost more
than 260 points at the opening bell to 11,155 while Nasdaq plummeted 50 points to 2210.
On the upside
Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) offered about $125 million in cash to buy music-sharing site Napster (Nasdaq: NAPS).
Airline stocks rose as oil prices continued to fall. Shares of Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) and AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR) were among the few gainers in the broad market.
On the downside
Shares of Lehman
Brothers (NYSE: LEH) became worthless after the venerable investment bank failed to find a buyer or partners over the weekend in an emergency meeting and filed for bankruptcy.
Investors punished American International Group (NYSE: AIG) on fears that the insurance giant may be unable to secure capital.
Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) withdrew its offer to buy Take Two Interactive Software (Nasdaq: TTWO) after the video game maker rejected the bid as too low.
In the broad market, declining issues swamped advancers by a margin
of more than 10 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 6 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000
which tracks small cap stocks fell 14 points to 706.
