stocks tumbled to new low in 2009
3/3/2009

S&P 500 index dropped to the lowest level below 7000 since October 28, 1996. Although the drop on Tuesday was moderate, the Dow Jones industry average tumbled 300 points a day earlier that sent both the Dow and the S&P 500 index to their lowest level in more than a decade. Monday's slump in the stock market was primarily triggered by the bigger than expected loss of $62 billion for the fourth quarter announced by AIG -- the biggest in U.S. corporate history. The U.S. government injected to AIG another $30 billion. The government already owns nearly 80 percent of the insurer’s holding company as a result of the earlier interventions, which included a $60 billion loan, a $40 billion purchase of preferred shares and $50 billion to soak up the company’s toxic assets.