Stock prices retreated back to the November lows on Tuesday on concerns that the new economic stimulus package and other government rescue plans won't be enough to stabilize the world economies.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 297.81 points to 7552.60. The Nasdaq composite index lost 63.70 points to 1470.66 and the S&P 500 stock index declined 37.67 points to 789.17.
On the day, the S&P 500 was down 4.56 percent, the Nasdq fell 4.15 percent and the Dow dropped 3.79 percent.
Among local stocks: Sempra Energy fell $2.42 to $41.21; Leap Wireless lost $1.54 to $25.58; and, Cubic was off $1.19 to $29.80.
Walmart was the only of the 30 Dow stocks to finish with a gain. The retailer closed at $48.24, up $1.71, after reporting earnings for the past quarter that beat expectations.
The deepening global slowdown sent oil prices down $3.43 to $34.45 a barrel, a decline of 8.0 percent. However, gold was up $25.50 to $967 an ounce.
