Friday Stock Gains: Erased

After declining at a steady pace throughout the day, stocks fell off the cliff during the last hour of today's trading, wiping out all of Friday's rally.

The Dow closed down today more than 370 points, or about 3 percent, after closing up by the same amount on Friday.

The markets remained uncertain throughout the day, waiting to see what kind of relief package Washington is going to craft and how tight the restrictions will be on Wall Street.

As the day wore on, the message from Capitol Hill became clearer: You're going to be on a short leash.

Around 3:30 p.m., House Democrats said they'd largely agreed on the main points of the plan, which would include the creation of an oversight board, not one of Wall Street's favorite creatures.

This came on the heels of a day-long price spike in oil, a drop in the dollar, losses among the financials -- all negatives that today's share-buyback spree (Microsoft, Nike, H-P) could not outweigh.

September 22, 2008; 4:25 PM ET  | Category:  business
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