Dow Falls Below 10,000 As Investor Gloom Rises
Stock prices tumbled for the fourth straight day yesterday amid fears that corporate profits are unlikely to rebound anytime soon and consumer spending may finally be slowing.</br></br>For the first time since early April, the Dow Jones industrial average closed below the 10,000 mark. Yesterday's 171.32-point drop left the Dow at 9919.58, down more than 500 points for the week.</br></br>The Nasdaq composite index, which topped 5000 at the height of the high-tech boom, ended the day below 1800 for the first time since April. The index closed at 1791.68, down 51.49.</br></br>"Investor confidence is completely broke," said Thomas Galvin, chief strategist at Credit Suisse First Boston. "People believe that the economic recovery is going to be later, not sooner, and that is adding downward pressure on stock prices."</br></br>By day's end, many analysts were predicting that stock prices would fall even further in the coming weeks as the market tests how low stock prices have to go before investors finally think it's safe to become buyers again.