HOLT:
Good evening. I'm
Lester Holt
, in tonight for
Brian
.
LESTER HOLT, anchor:
Watching the steep rises and falls of stock prices today was not for the faint of heart, especially after yesterday's 513 point free fall of the
Dow
. But for all the drama, and there was lots of it, the market finished today largely flat.
The Dow
gained 61 points, the
Nasdaq
lost 24, and the
S&P
was down about a point.
HOLT:
But take a look at how we got there. After that big drop yesterday, on a strong
start today
, the
Dow
bounced up and down across a 416 point range. Not easy to watch, especially for all those Americans who saw a huge chunk of their nest eggs vanish this week amid global debt concerns. Those concerns were still very much at work today, along with some news about the American job picture. We're covering it all here tonight, starting again at the
New York Stock Exchange
with
CNBC
's
Maria Bartiromo
.
Maria
, good evening.
MARIA BARTIROMO reporting:
Good evening,
Lester
. The
Dow Jones industrial average
this week was down 7 percent, the worst week since the financial crisis of
2008
. It has wiped $2 1/2 trillion of value out of global stocks, and it has struck fear in the hearts of investors, large and small. A wild end to a rough week on
Wall Street
as buyers flooded the market early on word that the US created 117,000 new jobs, sending the
Dow
up 172 points. But fears about
Europe
soon sent stocks hurdling back down, 245 points lower, until shares rose again...
Mr. SILVIO BERLUSCONI:
BARTIROMO:
...on news that
Italy
might be getting a bailout from the
European central bank
.
Mr. OLLI REHN (EU Commissioner):
I would encourage everybody to stay calm and breathe deeply and to really look into the economic fundamentals.
BARTIROMO:
But it may take more than that to soothe investors.
Mr. JONATHAN CORPINA (Meridian Equity Partners):
We want to see corrections in our markets immediately. We want to see corrections in our economy immediately.
And I
think we have to understand that it does take time to really get back to where we should be.
BARTIROMO:
After Thursday's sell-off,
Jack
and
Herman Halichi
, who own
Dan
's
Sub Shop
outside
LA
, are scared.
Unidentified Man #1:
Here we go.
Unidentified Man #2:
It was very stressful. We were worried about our future, our investment, if we are going to -- ever going to be able to retire or not.
BARTIROMO:
And it's not just their own investments they worry about.
Man #2:
The market tanks like now, we see our commercial customers, catering dropping.
BARTIROMO:
In Atlanta
, some investors are working hard to tune it all out.
Unidentified Man #3:
Right now just going to keep my eye away from the
stock market
, from the
Internet
, looking at it, and hopefully it will go up later on.
Unidentified Man #4:
I'll worry about it in five years.
Ms. KATHY BOYLE (Chapin Hill Advisors):
It's $15 to buy in.
BARTIROMO:
Investment adviser
Kathy Boyle
says that's a bad idea, that while now is not the time to panic, it is also not the time to bury your head in the sand.
Ms. BOYLE:
None of us know really what's going to happen tomorrow. We think we do. We all have, unfortunately, have to predict the market. But really what we have to tell people is you have to have a plan.
BARTIROMO:
Lester
, the next catalyst happens on Tuesday, next week, when the
Federal Reserve
holds its regularly scheduled meeting. And the question is, will the Fed bring up
QE3
or any kind of stimulus to support this fragile economy? Back to you.
“ ”