suzanne pratt went to wall street to find out. >> reporter: today was a day for some serious bargain shopping on wall street. after the recent pounding and panic in u.s. stocks, investors finally saw value. and they found it almost everywhere. but the federal reserve also threw a curve ball at the stock market today, and veteran trader art cashin says that sent investors on a wild ride. >> the market went through whip- saw gyrations like i've hardly seen in the 50 years i've been here. it couldn't make up it's mind. >> reporter: even with today's buying, fear remains the dominant sentiment among investors. equity strategist scott wren says that's because it's going to take time for the market to digest what the fed is now saying about the economy. >> the market was hopeful that, coming in to this fomc meeting, that the fed would do something with the language, and possibly even take some sort of defined steps to inject more liquidity into the system or something. >> reporter: before the last month of trading, the dow had only experienced moderate volatility in 2011. but experts say t

i am joined by my colleague suzanne pratt. suzanne, a whipsaw day for wall street. it began with heavy selling on fresh worries about the economy and ended with a late day comeback for stocks. >> susie: tom, the services sector is the latest worry. today we learned a key measure of service activity fell to its lowest level since february 2010. and, investors shrugged off better-than-expected data on private sector jobs. a.d.p. reported that private employers added 110,000 new jobs in july. >> tom: by the closing bell, the blue chips had turned an 150- point loss into a gain. the dow rose almost 30 points, the nasdaq was up 23 and the s&p 500 added six. volume was heavier, with 1.3 billion shares moving on the big board and 2.6 billion on the nasdaq. >> suzanne: investors big and small have had their confidence shaken by the down-to-the-wire debt deal in washington. market pros say investors are simply out of optimism. earlier today, i spoke with two n.y.s.e. veterans and what they had to say was troubling. >> the stock market is a forward-looking mechanism and, as s

suzanne pratt joins me. suzanne, investors around the globe saw red after standard & poor's gave u.s. debt a black eye. >> suzanne: tom, an upsetting day of dramatic selling here at the big board on extremely heavy volume. the dow lost a stunning 634 points, or 5.5%. it now trades below 11,000. the nasdaq lost 174 points, or almost 7%, and the s&p 500 tumbled almost 80 points. trading volume the second heaviest we've seen this year-- 2.5 billion shares here at the n.y.s.e. and just below four billion shares on the nasdaq. >> tom: as for the debt downgrade, for the first time since standard & poor's first rated u.s. credit triple a in 1941, it has been cut to double a plus. the agency cites the inability of congress and president obama to do more to shrink the government's budget deficit. >> suzanne: stocks nosedived as investors reacted to s&p's downgrade of american debt. but even though the ratings agency believes treasuries are becoming more risky, investors rushed to safety there, pushing yields lower, a

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: on wall street these days, what goes down must go up. and down. and up. and so on. experts say vertigo is the new normal for stock investors, and that's unlikely to change until there's clarity on the global economy. today's worry? france and its biggest bank, societe generale. there's concern s&p will downgrade the bank, too. as a result, financial stocks in the u.s. led the selloff as investors fretted trouble with europe's banks could spill across the pond. n.y.s.e. floor broker doreen mogavero says sentiment is very negative. >> there's really no panic. we've seen no panic here at all. it's been very orderly, but, i think people are really reassessing their positions in the market. >> reporter: so what's an investor to do in this frightening and volatile trading environment? experts say that depends on the strength of their stomach, also known as risk tolerance. market strategist mike ryan says most investors should stay in the market. >> i think people who are selling at these levels today are going to wind up being disappointed, because i th

i'm joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, a much calmer day for stock investors today after yesterday's awful rout thanks in part to a better-than-expected report on jobs. >> suzanne: tom, hiring actually accelerated last month. employers added 117,000 new jobs to their payrolls in july. that nudged the unemployment lower, to 9.1% from 9.2% in >> tom: while the stock indices stabilized from the sell-off yesterday, that was only after deeper losses in the morning. at one point, the dow industrial index was down almost 250 points. by the closing bell, the dow finished up almost 61 points, the nasdaq lost about 24 while the s&p 500 was essentially unchanged. trading volume rising from yesterday's pace to over two billion shares on the big board and 3.7 billion on the nasdaq. these are the highest volume numbers in more than a year. >> suzanne: now for a closer look at that july employment report. economists say the numbers were just okay, not great, but they should be good enough to silence talk of a recession, at least

i'm joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, a massive selloff clobbered the stock market today, making it the worst day for the dow industrial average since the 2008 financial crisis. >> suzanne: tom, it was ugly here at the big board. investors are stressed about the anemic u.s. recovery and the fragile global economy. the dow plunged 512 points while the nasdaq gave up a stunning 136, or close to 5%, and the s&p 500 lost 60. all of the major averages are now in negative territory for the year. >> tom: no area of the market was immune. all ten of the s&p sectors moved sharply lower, down by 3% or more. nosedive into the closing bell to end with better than 500-point losses. putting that into context, recent selling over the last sessions have erased eight months of gains for the dow jones industrial average in just a few sessions. the dow is down more than 1.5% so far this year. the market breadth shows how wide the selling was. the new york stock exchange only 182 stocks closed higher, more than 2,400 lower in price

i'm joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, a massive selloff clobbered the stock market today, making it the worst day for the dow industrial average since the 2008 financial crisis. >> suzanne: tom, it was ugly here at the big board. investors are stressed about the anemic u.s. recovery and the fragile global economy. the dow plunged 512 points while the nasdaq gave up a stunning 136, or close to 5%, and the s&p 500 lost 60. all of the major averages are now in negative territory for the year. >> tom: no area of the market was immune. all ten of the s&p sectors moved sharply lower, down by 3% or more. nosedive into the closing bell to end with better than 500-point losses. putting that into context, recent selling over the last sessions have erased eight months of gains for the dow jones industrial average in just a few sessions. the dow is down more than 1.5% so far this year. the market breadth shows how wide the selling was. the new york stock exchange only 182 stocks closed higher, more than 2,400 lower in price

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: a quick walk on manhattan's park avenue takes you by some well-known firms for regular investors. guess what? today, they're mostly empty. perhaps that's because it's vacation season. but, more likely, it's because the stock market lately has been rather unfriendly. in the last month, the dow has traded in nearly a 2,000-point range, with daily triple-digit moves becoming the norm. those market swings have made this financial planning office a very busy place. c.e.o. lewis altfest says nervous clients are questioning their appetite for risk. >> these are clients that were stung in... in the 2008 period, and they're afraid they're going back in to that kind of an environment. >> reporter: altfest says they want reassurance the dow won't tumble to 6,000. altfest thinks that's unlikely. his best advice: investors should stay in the market or even buy in. >> when stocks go down, people emotionally feel nervous. fundamentally, they should feel the opposite. if i were not to call it stocks but call it a car and say the car's on sale, they go out and buy it.

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: under sunny blue skies in new york's time square today, it was hard to comprehend the wrath of hurricane irene. for much of manhattan, it was a normal monday back at work. the new york stock exchange rang the opening bell on time and so did the nasdaq. still, commuters from suburban towns outside new york had trouble getting in. many train lines were cancelled or operating on reduced service. and from the beaches of north carolina to the coast of maine, millions of homes and businesses remained without power and, utilities say it could take days, and in some cases weeks, to restore electricity. much of the damage is water- related, particularly in new jersey and vermont, where flooding is extensive. still, the wrath of irene was less than expected. economist steve richiuitto believes the financial impact will be modest. >> the numbers that are being bandied about are basically anywhere from $10 billion to $40 billion. but if you look at it in terms of its effect on quarterly g.d.p., third quarter g.d.p., how much could you take off of that? well the a

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: tomorrow, as we continue our series "how to fix the economy," we turn our focus to the housing market and the frustrations of trying to sell when there's a glut of foreclosures on the market. meanwhile, an idea from billionaire investor warren buffett today on how the u.s. can get out of its economic mess. he's telling everyone, raise taxes on the mega-rich, and that includes him as well. warren buffett is estimated to be worth $50 billion, and he wants to pay more taxes. in an op-ed piece in "the new york times" today, buffett says his rich pals should pay more, too. he says, "my friends and i have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly congress. it's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice." how much would that sacrifice help the u.s. economy? not much, according to this woman. maya maccguiness is the president of the committee for a responsible federal budget. >> the changes, the money that you can make from taxing millionaires and billionaires higher is just going to be a tiny piece of t

suzanne pratt was on wall street today and has more on the market plunge. >> reporter: just when you think it can't possibly get any worse for the stock market, it does. today, it was fresh concerns about economies around the world that walloped wall street. a big salvo came from morgan stanley's slashing of its global growth forecast for this year and next. the investment firm says the u.s. and europe are hovering close to a recession. on top of that, there were worrisome reports on housing, factory activity, and the labor market, all in the u.s. veteran trader ted weissberg says recession talk is the problem. >> what we're seeing today perhaps as a knee-jerk reaction to the morgan stanley downgrade of growth is investors once again saying, "i can't deal with the risk, i can't deal with all the unknowns." >> reporter: today's losses extended a sell-off that began in late july, and the s&p 500 is now down close to 20% since its april high. so, are we in a bear market? >> well, maybe technically not, but it sure feels that way. >> reporter: experts say there's a battle developing in t

shut up.my and pratt on his pointless sai life. isn a "this isn't a business. that was the big thing i .idn't get. get reality tv is not a career. car anyone who says oh you cans,h have a career in reality that,na is a lie" spencer added thatuces mtv producers tried tointo h convince him into hitting his sister.om and that's they are broke andho. living in mom's rent free beach house. must be nice. hisew let's go to spencer looking t for his new job as mascot at the local bonana hut. >> wow. >> can this fake marriage be saved? >> no. it is over. all, spencer and heidi, we hadi, enough of them two years ago? >> yeah.m gla >> i'm glad to see them broke. i'm not going to lie. i'm a hater.m a h i am glad to see her disappointed that she held alllf of that plastic surgery andur looking like a tonka truck.aru >> she is only like 27?ka >> she looks like joan rivers. v >> jill, you spend a lot of you time with reality folks. te aren't they all bad people?'t tl they really are, aren't they? i >> being a reality star bringsoe out the worst in you.n you learn the more awf

>> i started as a lawyer working on the case but geronimo pratt, a black panther case. that ended up after 27 years to be proven. and we have learned that law enforcement' officers had good evidence or statutory evidence, let people commit perjury, said in the room and -- sat in the room to destroy evidence to convict someone who was innocent. and that is how i started my career as a lawyer. when i started that case, i began thinking this was a big conspiracy to frame this man. what i learned is -- and i discussed this with geronimo -- we are experiencing men and women who thought the end justified the means. they thought they had a bad man and it was ok to do anything necessary to convict him. as i look back on my career, present and future, i think we see that that is the concept that runs through police misconduct. i am sure there are officers who were just bad, let's say. i think officers see what they consider bad people, and they feel like they have to do what ever it takes to convict them. and i have seen it when i was a young lawyer, when we had narcotics teams,

>> i started as a lawyer working on the case but geronimo pratt, a black panther case. that ended up after 27 years to be proven. and we have learned that law enforcement' officers had good evidence or statutory evidence, let people commit perjury, said in the room and -- sat in the room to destroy evidence to convict someone who was innocent. and that is how i started my career as a lawyer. w