Wall Street yesterday ended its worst week since 1940, with stocks sliding for the fifth consecutive day on fears of a recession and uncertainty over the long war on terrorism after last week's deadly attack on the World Trade Centre.
The week - the fifth worst in the history of the Dow Jones Industrial Index - ended with hints of the panic that marked the 50 per cent sell-off in October 1929.
Investors have dumped shares steadily all week, pulling the Dow Jones down by 14 per cent.
While there was some panic, said Mr Stephen Shobin, president of AmeriCap advisers, there could be a rebound on Monday.
"We are outside the historic envelope," said Mr Paul Cherney, a market analyst at S&P Marketscope. "No one knows when we will bottom."
Many big investors switched from stocks to money market accounts as share prices continued to decline on expectation of major losses and massive layoffs in the airline, hotel, financial, technology and pharmaceutical sectors.
US treasures and gold climbed as investors fled to safe havens.
Yesterday was one of the heaviest and most volatile days on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Dow plunged 300 points within minutes of the opening, but then soared again on the news from General Electric that its new CEO, Mr Jeffrey Immelt had forecast the giant US company would record 11 per cent earnings growth.
After only minutes in positive territory however the market began testing the bottom again.
The Nasdaq has tumbled 16 per cent and the Standard & Poor's 500 has fallen 11.6 per cent this week.
Dealing was complicated by the fact that yesterday was "triple-witching Friday" when stock and futures options expire. Traditionally shares decline and then recover on this date.
Among the winners - which were trounced by losers by five to one on the New York Stock Exchange - were wireless stocks, in anticipation of increased sales of mobile phones, and the defence sector, which will benefit from increased military spending.
For some of the big players it was a week of heavy losses.
Microsoft lost 12 per cent of its value since the markets opened on Monday after a four day interruption and Intel fell 23 per cent.
EMC said it would lay off 10 per cent of its workforce, or more than 2,000 people and probably report its first quarterly loss in 11 years, which the computer storage company blamed on a widening recession.
Morgan Stanley lost 20 per cent of its value since Monday.
The Wall Street firm posted its worst quarter since the financial turmoil of 1998, as investment banking fees dropped and trading revenues slid.
Morgan Stanley was the largest tenant in the destroyed World Trade Center but lost few employees.
More than one billion shares changed hands on the Dow and the Nasdaq, twice the average midday volume, leaving the the NYSE on track to record its busiest week in history.
Members of the celebrated Bass family, major players on Wall Street, appear to be among the big losers of the turmoil in the markets.
They sold 135 million shares in Disney for $2 billion, partly to pay off margin loans from brokerage firms.
Their predicament raised the prospect of other big-time investors being forced to sell. Disney has been hit hard since the attack, with its stock plummeting mainly because of the declining travel and leisure business.
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