Dow Falls at Opening Bell

There's no early rally this morning, as the Dow is down 2 percent, or 179 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq opened down 1.6 percent, despite an initial 6 percent spike in Google's stock after the company reported solid earnings after the close of market yesterday.

Google beat Wall Street's estimates when it reported a 26 percent jump in third-quarter profit after the market closed yesterday. Third-quarter profit reached $1.3 billion. Analysts say Google probably won't be able to sustain such growth in the coming months, but it is becoming the standout tech stock in early trading.

Also expected to impact the markets today is news this morning that housing starts and permits for new home construction fell sharply again in September, with requests for new building permits falling to levels not seen since the recession of the early 1980s. The data indicates that, not surprisingly, the housing downturn continues to deepen.

Also, oil prices rose to about $71 a barrel this morning from a 14-month low. Some investors bet fears that a severe global recession will devastate crude demand may be overblown.

--Kim Hart