Another Bad Day On Wall Street

Credit troubles and high oil prices. The bad times will last awhile - six months at least, given the subprime mortgage reset schedule:

Wall Street today suffered one of its worst routs since the global credit crunch began, as financial stocks were hammered again and a fresh plunge in the dollar deepened concerns about the U.S. economic outlook.

The Dow Jones industrials sank 360.92 points, or 2.6%, to 13,300.02, amid a broad market decline.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 44.65 points, or 2.9%, to 1,475.62. It was the biggest one-day decline for the S&P index since February, surpassing even the worst days in August, when the credit crunch rooted in the housing market's woes began to spark heavy selling of stocks.

Falling stocks outnumbered winners by a stunning 10 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

...Investors' fears have been compounded by streaking oil prices, which are threatening to top the $100-a-barrel mark. The price eased a bit today, however, to $96.37 a barrel.

And the dollar has continued to sink, raising the risk that foreign investors -- who have funded a huge amount of U.S. borrowing -- could grow tired of seeing their holdings devalued and could balk at buying more American securities.

The dollar crumbled today after Chinese officials suggested the country might sell dollar-denominated securities to diversify its foreign-currency reserves.

"We will favor stronger currencies over weaker ones, and will readjust accordingly," Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of China's National People's Congress, said at a conference in Beijing, Bloomberg News reported.

...Despite today's losses, major stock indexes still are in the black for the year. The Dow is up 6.7%, and the S&P 500 is up 4%.