the dow add 125 points, the nasdaq knand 15, the s & p 500 notched up six. the pace of trading settled to a more normal range with 1 billion shares trading here on the big board, two billion on the nasdaq. the major averages almost finished positive for the week but were down slightly when you add up all the numbers. the dow, for example, down 175 points or 1.5%, the nasdaq off 24 points, or 1%, and the s & p 500 one of the hardest hit off almost 2%. so will this intense volatility return next week? and what's behind the massive swings? erica miller reports. >> weeks like this one are extreme, but for the rest of us, the market's wild swings are confusing and often distressing. that even goes for veteran stock strategist bill cow. >> this is not a normal period. this is abnormal volatility. i had dinner with retail clients last night, and some of the retired people were wondering whether they'd ever come back to the stock market again. >> reporter: two trillion dollars in stock market wealth has vaporized this month and august is on track to be the worst mon

cisco was the dow's standout and the nasdaq's most actively traded stock. shares jumped 16% to almost $16. investors bought up the stock a day after cisco reported better than expected quarterly results, and c.e.o. john chambers made upbeat comments about his commitment to a turn around. but even with today's surge, cisco is down 21% so far this year. bank of america was the most heavily traded stock on the big board. shares in the battered banking giant finding support just above the $7 level. reuters reports bank of america is exploring a sale of its $17 billion stake in china's construction bank. exxon mobil got off to a bumpy start today-- shares were halted mid-morning after a bad trade tripped its circuit breaker. trading resumed shortly after with exxon shares rising over 5% to close at $71.58 a share. after the closing bell today, a lot of interest in nvidia. the reason-- strong second quarter profits for the graphics chip maker and an improved sales outlook for the current quarter. the stock ending the regular session up 9% at $13.41; in after-hours

let's check out what the nasdaq issing looking out right now. paul, assistant managinged or for cnnmoney.com. is this consistent across the board? >> yeah, the entire market is down. there really aren't any stocks that are bucking this bearish trend today. as alison mentioned, the fears about europe combined with more weak economic data in the u.s. and that's the recipe for a big plunge, especially after the volatility last week. >> the fear gauge is up, 40% last hour. how much is fear dictating these markets really completely? >> it's hard to say if it's really fear. you know, this still seems maybe being naive, i hope not, but still seems a little bit different from 2008 when everyone was worried about the i'm mebt collapse of major financial institutions. i don't think we're dl yet. i hope we don't get there. i think right now it's really more a case of a lot of people wondering when these problems -- some of them can be solved. we're just wait for actual solutions. europe, the leaders, have not done much to inspire confidence in, you know, th

the nasdaq composite up 5 1/2% and the s&p slipping 4 1/2%. let's get you up to speed of what's happening today in asia. pretty much speaks for itself. the nikkei down 2 1/2%. check out south korea, down 6%. the third worst trading day in that exchange's history. the hang seng up 3% and the shanghai composite also down 1%. they are thankfully now into the weekend in asia. as for europe, it's gathering down but momentum, off 100 points now. down more than 2%. in paris, down 2% and in germany on the dax index, down right around 3%. and let's take a look at the commodities for you with the concerns of a global slowdown and lack of demand for oil. check out oil now. right around $80 a barrel. down 2% on the day and meanwhile, money continuing to funnel into gold. up $1865 per ounce. fox news contributor katie sergeant joining us by phone from singapore with more on the trading day. as i said, thankfully asia heading into the weekend now to lick its wounds. >> that's exactly right, ashley. it was a very negative day for asia and red numbers all aro

the nasdaq off 6.9%, the biggest drop in years. gold was up to an all-time high, $1,700, a sign investors are scared. by last week's debt ceiling deal, not big or bold enough. >> no one touched entitlement spending or tax reform. until republicans and democrats show an ounce of backbone and actually do what's in the interest of the american people rather than what's in their own immediate political interest, i can't argue with s&p's conclusion. >> reporter: the president said the downgrade could spur on new debt talks. >> our problems are imminently solvable, and we know what we have to do to solve them. >> reporter: that, in turn, pleased the head of standard & poor's. >> it was actually a bit of a new sense of urgency we heard from him. it was encouraging. >> reporter: s&p downgrade from tip triple-a to double-a plus. mortgage giants fannie mae and freddie mac own or guarantee half of american mortgages. rates could rise driving down home values and sales. >> the markets, on the other hand, continue to believe our credit status i

the dow lost 77 points, the nasdaq fell 31, s&p 500 down almost 12. trading volume up slightly from yesterday's pace: just over a billion shares on the big board; over two billion trading on the nasdaq. >> susie: reassuring news today about the u.s.' credit rating did little to cheer investors. fitch ratings reaffirmed its aaa rating on the u.s. and, in a blatant disagreement with rival standard & poor's, fitch gave a vote of confidence to washington's deficit-reduction efforts. still, all the recent wrangling in washington and europe over budgets and the global economy have rattled investors everywhere. so much so that many are reevaluating their appetite for risk. 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-dig

the nasdaq saw a nice recovery too, rising almost 6%. the s&p 500 is almost 5% higher today compared to a week ago. still ahead, our focus on fixing the economy turns to you the consumer and how you're holding up in a slow economy. >> susie: "irene." that's what people up and down the east coast were talking about today. millions are bracing for hurricane irene and preparing for a weekend of violent weather, and even though it was a sunny day here on wall street, the new york stock exchange was busy getting ready for irene. >> reporter: the massive american flag that usually drapes the pillars outside the new york stock exchange has been removed so hurricane irene doesn't blow it away this weekend. sandbags were placed around the building this afternoon. inside the exchange, the big board staff is preparing for the storm, but hoping for the best. lou pastina, n.y.s.e.'s head of floor operations, is hopeful the exchange will open for business as usual on monday morning. >> we'd like to ring that bell over there. >> susie: a final decision

the disparity wider. 152 nasdaq traded issues up, more than 2,900 lower. >> suzanne: all 10 of the s&p 500 sectors moved sharply lower. morningstar's paul larson says it was hard to pinpoint a reason. >> one thing about the selling is that you can't necessarily point to any one particular piece of news that necessarily caused the crash. i think it's just a series of long-festering problems coming to the fore. >> tom: we've got full market coverage, including analysis from kathleen gaffney, who manages a $20 billion bond fund, and a look at the wreckage in stocks with equity strategist lincoln ellis in chicago. we begin with lincoln. any trigger for the selloff that you saw today in the stock market? >> i think paul's comment over at morningstar are right. really, the cumulative effect of a number of things, really weak consumption numbers early in the week followed by very lackluster labor numbers this morning and, of course, that's all with the backdrop of a very volatile and dangerous european equity market where they don't seem to be able to come up with some policy responses to s

the disparity wider. 152 nasdaq traded issues up, more than 2,900 lower. >> suzanne: all 10 of the s&p 500 sectors moved sharply lower. morningstar's paul larson says it was hard to pinpoint a reason. >> one thing about the selling is that you can't necessarily point to any one particular piece of news that necessarily caused the crash. i think it's just a series of long-festering problems coming to the fore. >> tom: we've got full market coverage, including analysis from kathleen gaffney, who manages a $20 billion bond fund, and a look at the wreckage in stocks with equity strategist lincoln ellis in chicago. we begin with lincoln. any trigger for the selloff that you saw today in the stock market? >> i think paul's comment over at morningstar are right. really, the cumulative effect of a number of things, really weak consumption numbers early in the week followed by very lackluster labor numbers this morning and, of course, that's all with the backdrop of a very volatile and dangerous european equity market where they don't seem to be able to come up with some policy responses to s

the nasdaq also getting clobbered on the week, down 223 points or over 8%. and the s&p 500 had a 7% drop, losing almost 93 points on the week. while it was a rough week for stocks, gold shined, hitting record price highs. the yellow metal gained $20 dollars or 1% on the week. >> tom: rumors, reversals, ups and downs-- these are what fuel markets, and made for a memorable week. next week, brace yourself, might be just as notable. darren gersh reminds us of what we went through this week and takes a peek forward. >> reporter: if you like your market metaphors grim, this was your kind of week. >> this was definitely a week where you had a tremendous amount of fear and loathing in the trenches. >> reporter: the end of the washington melodrama did not help. instead, the last-minute deal to avert a debt default leaves some with a nagging suspicion lawmakers are not up to managing the nation's challenges. >> congress has now approved a compromise to reduce the deficit and avert a default that would have devastated our economy. >> reporter: monday's debt limit deal

right now with the dow and the nasdaq. we have the dow that's down 79 points. the nasdaq is up 3 points. gold is setting another record as investors look for a safe haven over worries of another u.s. recession. it's reached as high as $1,881 per ounce. gold is up more than 25% since july 1. and also, looking at some european stocks, european stocks were down today a sharp sell-off in britain, france and germany, shares of europe's largest banks fell to their lowest point in more than two years approaching a weekly decline of nearly 10% over worries of the health of european banks. also, frank, grace, i should add that tokyo's nikkei and hong kong's hang seng were down over 2.5% today. >> you know, looking at all these selloffs around the world and in the u.s., people are buying gold and us treasury bonds but i can't imagine all that money is just going there. where else are people putting their money? what's considered safe? >> if anywhere. >> reporter: you know, precious metals is definitely something that people are putti

you see the dow down 0.75%, the nasdaq 1% even and the s&p down by more than 0.66%. that's what the futures are telling us at the moment, nina. >>> staying with the united states, "the new york times" is reporting that the u.s. justice department is investigating the country's largest credit ratings agency. we're talking about standard & poors here. the investigate has little to do with the agency's downgrade of the united states' credit rating a couple of weeks ago. instead it says that the justice department actually wants to know if standard & poor's improperly rated dozens of mortgage-backed securities leading up to the financial crunch of 2008. the times is reporting that the inquest began before the s&p cut of the credit rating just last month. >>> foster's, the australian brewer is rejecting a $10 billion hostile bid by sabmiller breweries. let's go to rami inocencio now with more on that reply from foster's. >>> $10 billion is a huge sum of money but it wasn't sweet enough for foster's group to bite. in a statement, foster's had this to say, the board of fost

the nasdaq plunged 174. taking a a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo, the nikkei stumbled to 153-point loss. but in hong kong, the hang seng plunged 1,159. and of course, as reported earlier, america's financial downgrade hit wall street like a bomb yesterday. there were losses far greater than most had expected. stocks tumbled, despite moody's, standard and poor's rival, reaffirming its aaa rating on america. how hard and how fast was the selling? trading volume was the highest since september 2008. the fourth highest on record. at just under 18 billion shares. to put wall street's recent losses in perspective. consider in late july, the dow was flirting with the 13,000 mark. yesterday it fell below 11,000 for the first time since last november. the nasdaq and s&p 500 are both down about 18% since the end of april. >>> the nation's smaller companies have been battered as well. the russell 2000 index of small stocks has lost nearly 25% from its most recent high in april. >>> and wall street's so-called fear index shot up 50% yesterday. that's i

the nasdaq plunged 136 points. ook at overseas trading in tokyo, the nikkei skid 359 points. in hong kong the hang seng tumbleded 938 points. >>> as we reported earlier, gripped by fears of a new recession, thursday the dow jones fell more than 500 points -- its ninth steepest decline ever. as sudden as the collapse may seem, it's actually been brewing for days. over the last 13 days, the dow lost more than 1,300 points, roughly 10.5%. an estimated $2 trillion in market value disappearing over two years. yesterday's problems were triggered in europe. markets there were hit by a massive sell-off sparked by concerns over the troubled economies of italy and spain. the global wave of jitters in selling hit asian markets this morning. as that wave hit here, all ten industry groups on the broader s&p fell. bank of america, citigroup, and hooup were among the stocks hitting new 52-week lows. despite posting stellar earnings, kraft and g.m. fell. gold briefly hit a record high then tumbled. oil fell even more than stocks, 6

carter evans is live from the floor of the nasdaq. carter, which way is the roller coaster going this morning? >> reporter: well, it's a little bit up, a little bit down. kind of bumpy. that's actually a good thing. we didn't fall off a cliff. we did not see that. and the cow has -- dow has been bouncing all over the place. but this 36 is about the best it's been. the nasdaq actually just moved into positive territory. it's up 10 points now. the s&p 500 off just a fraction. that's good news. here is a big reason for the dow's decline right now. hp, look at this. it's down almost 24%. hewlett-packard? what happened to them? they reported yesterday, their outlook not so good but the big news from hp, they are getting out of the pc business and you are saying what's going on? hps a computermaker? not anymore. they don't want to be. they are saying they need to move into more profitable business. people are not buying computers right now. >> that was a big shock to the market and tech. there's a lots of concerns about that. if people are n

the nasdaq it seems is in even worse shape. of 10%. >>> with all this recession and market turmoil talk, we thought we'd leave you with something a little more up lifting. despite the current market conditions that of course remain tough, one u.s. business is enjoying the sweet taste of success as felicia taylor now reports. >> reporter: it started as a simple bakery on acquaint street in new york city's greenwich village. then a few years later magnolia bakery was featured in one episode of the tv show "sex and the city" on hbo which like cnn is owned by time warner. it was that appearance that helped start a cupcake craze and turned this local business into a phenomenon. now 15 years on, magnolia is going global, selling franchises internationally. owner steve abrams took over the company in 2007 and expanded the business with seven other company-owned branches in united states and one store in dubai. the dubai magnolia is run under a different type agreement but will soon fall under the franchise umbrella. >> why now do you

the nasdaq fell 38.5, and the s&p 500 was off 17 points. trading volume was heavier than normal heading into a summer weekend. one and a half billion shares moving on the nyse, 2.4 billion on the nasdaq. the dow fell in three of the week's session, for a net overall loss of 4%. the tech heavy nasdaq was hit the hardest this week down 6.6%. the s&p 500 dropped almost 5% over the past five sessions. let's look at how the dow industrials has traded this month. despite the drop this week, the index remains 100 points above its low of last week. >> susie: many major brokerage firms have lowered their forecasts for the u.s. economy. one common theme: they're all talking about recession. erika miller reports. >> reporter: wall street economists are waking up to what many ordinary americans already know: there's a rising risk of recession. >> i wasn't aware we'd ever gotten out of the last one. >> i think we're heading towards a second one. >> it's not like there's a chance that things are going to be getting much better very soon. >> reporter: man

strongly negative for the dow, but the nasdaq and the s&p 500 down by half a percent.ook ahead to the u.s. futures, tuesday isn't shaping up to be much better. opening with the markets with a loss of about 60 points for the dow, 15 for the nasdaq and 9 for the s&p 500. so, again, it looks as if the globe has it. even though it looks as though we may be out of it in terms of the debt deal, andrew. >> absolutely. at least there's not going to be a default in the u.s. apparently with the debt drama coming to an end what's next for the fragile u.s. economy. john defterios takes a look at that just ahead. stay with us. >>> welcome back from cnn hong kong and london. you're watching "world business today." >>> now, the on fire debt deal calls for $2.5 trillion of cutting in the next ten years but will it help the state of the faltering u.s. economy, which we know from the u.s. manufacturing reports shows some sign of strain. cnn's john defterios joins us here from london. give us a bit of detail. how bad was that? >> it's interesting. the survey has very closely watched. it'

the nasdaq was down 6.9%. and the market lost $1 trillion in value. 2.9 trillion in the past two weeks or 15%. here's how cnn reported the story from open to close so you can follow it. >> knee jerk reaction, emotional reaction to the historic move by s&p. we're starting in the red. >> stocks have been in the red since the opening minute. >> dow jones off just about 2.5%. nasdaq off over 3.5%. >> another downgrade this time lowering the rating of mortgage giants fannie mae and freddie mac and the ripple effect keeps coming. >> now about 552 points down, the dow jones industrial. >> another horrendous day. >> goes down, goes up. very unusual for us. >> president obama says washington knows how to solve the problem. that politicians need to put the good of the nation ahead of the good of their parties. here's more. >> markets will rise and fall, but this is the united states of america. no matter what some agency may say, we've always been and always will be a aaa country. >> well s&p doesn't see it that way. con

the nasdaq for its part jumped more than 5%. it comes to the broader s&p 500 index, that gained nearly 4.75%. alison kosic takes us through the bumpy ride. >> the dow had wild swings moving 200 points higher and falling 200 points in a matter of minutes at one point during the day. at the closing bell, the dow rallied 429 points, most of that coming in the final hour of trading. that's the biggest gain of the year one day after its biggest loss. the nasdaq jumped more than 5%, the s&p 500 up 4.75%. much of the volatility came after the federal reserve's statement on the economy. some say wall street was looking for a confidence boost but didn't get it. others say there was a relief rally after the fed announced the economy is weak and it's continuing to give support through reinvest through the previous economic stimulus. the good news from the fed, it plans to keep interest rates near zero for another two years. you can expect another choppy session wednesday as the market continues to adjust and find its equilibrium following

the the nasdaq composite is down 131 to -- the nasdaq composite is down 131 to 2,380.happened to cause the plunge? kron 4's dan kerman talked to the experts to find out. >> reporter: dropping 485 points in the first 45 minutes. and staying there for much of the trading day. before closing down 419 points at 10,990. >> we have a jobs and wages and growth crisis. not a debt crisis. till we actually get more spending, individuals and businesses, we are not going to have enough demand to get people back to work and get the market moving and get growth back in force. that's not just in the united states, it's in europe, increasingly around the world. >>> the market reacted to lots of bad news. first concerns over debt problems in europe and then bad economic news in this country. last week 9,000 more people famed for unemployment. july inflation at consumer levels the highest since march. july home sales fell for the first time in four months and manufacturing weakened in the mid-atlantic states. but there is one positive in all this. >> with all the volatility pushing mort

the nasdaq fell also yesterday. but the spokesman for the new york stock exchange in san francisco says because of that federal meeting, he expects things to calm down again. >> you should not get enough volatility today. we'll be keeping our powder dry. not as much volatility as we saw monday or last thursday. >> reporter: in june, the federal reserve bought treasury bonds bonds to boost the economy -- bonds to boost the economy. they should be issuing some sort of statement around 11:00 our time. we'll find out then what they plan to do. but in the meantime, investors are feeling more optimistic today. live in san francisco, allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. >> you are absolutely right, allie. many people are waiting to hear. the feds policy meeting. coming up at 7:15, we'll have a live report from our washington, d.c. newsroom the fed is expected to take. you can go to ktvu.com. there are also tools to monitor the markets. just look for the wall street tab. >>> it's a crime that's shocked the country. this mornin

the s & p is off 32 now, the nasdaq down 70. e the understatement on wall street today. let's check in with melissa francis. what in the world is going on? >> reporter: it is a really rough day on wall street. it started the same way it started yesterday with the european close, lot of problems in europe right now. the focus is italy. we saw major indices trading off 3% or 4% by the close. that signaled a ton of selling here as well. we were down more than 300 points, about 350 points on the dow and we have battled back from that level. the most interesting thing that's going on right now is what's happening in gold. we are actually seeing gold sell off. you remember we have seen record after record after record, nine or ten since the beginning of the year. right now, gold is actually trading significantly lower, i think down about $20 at last check, moving so quickly. the same is true of silver. crude oil also trading lower. the theory behind that is actually a little bit scary, that it's a race for liquidity. traders out there

the nasdaq is down 55. the s&p down 4. the big reason for the drop, new signs that americans are spending less and saving more. this morning, the commerce department reported spending fell 2/10, the biggest drop in two years. it comes tas consumer prices are slipping -- it comes as consumer prices are slipping. the commerce department says most americans increased the amount they saved during -- during june. >>> starting today, highway patrol cars will be decorated with purple ribbons. it's part of a campaign to remind people of the danger of leaving children unattended in the car. the campaign was started by the national organization for keep our kids' safe. the founder is the mother of a 6-year-old who died in a car after being left there by a baby-sitter for more than two hours. >>> it's back to school for many in the bay area. many need supplies. in san jose, more than 2,000 signed up with a nonprofit group to receive free backpacks. sacred heart community services have only collected half of what they need to donate t

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, and they bought gold like never before, sending the yellow metal to new highs. erika miller has more on today's market action. >> reporter: outside the new york stock exchange, reporters, tourists and regular americans tried to make sense of the market meltdown. inside the big board, there was even more activity, as the dow posted its worst decline since

the nasdaq plunged 136. taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo, the nikkei skids 359 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng tumbled 938. >>> as we reported earlier, gripped by fears of a new recession, thursday the dow jones fell more than 500 points, its ninth steepest decline ever. as sudden as the collapse may seem, it's actually been brewing for days. over the last 13 days the dow lost more than 1,300 points, roughly 10.5%, an estimated $2 trillion in market value disappearing over two weeks. yesterday's problems were triggered in europe. markets there were hit by a massive sell-off sparked by concerns over the troubled economies of italy and spain. the global wave of jitters and selling hit asian markets this morning. as that wave hit here yesterday, all ten industry groups on the broader s&p 500 fell. bank of america, citigroup, and hewlett-packard were among the stocks hitting new 52-week lows. despite boasting stellar earnings, both kraft and gm fell. >>> a retreat from stocks, gol

the nasdaq composite falling 136 points to 2556, the dow, the nasdaq, and the s&p 500 are all in official correction territory. there are specific definitions to what is a correction, what is a recession. a correction means we're at least 10% off our recent highs. the s&p has seen more than $1 trillion in market value wiped wiped out, over the past 10 days. it's going to be a bumpy day. the focus is going to be i will say on the all important jobs report but it's even more so important today. it's coming out at 5:30 in the morning pacific time. it's 8:30 in the morning eastern time. forecasts are calling for pay rolls to rise by 75,000 after 18,000 in june. analysts are looking for about 118,000 private sector jobs. guess what that means. more drag from the government sector. unemployment expected to hold steady at 9.2%. futures don't mean anything. it really matters what we're going to get in terms of the numbers in about 45 minutes. >> nicole lapin, thank you. for months most of we've seen of arnold schwarzenegger has been in shots snapped by the paparazzi. for the first time since his

the nasdaq added 50%. the s&p 50 tacked on .25%. the u.s. central bank debated what tools it had remaining to boost the u.s. economy, while settling on a pledge to keep rates low for two more years. three of ten members dissented saying the guidance should focus on the economy, not specific dates. it was the strongest internal opposition in almost 20 years. meantime consumer confidence plunged in august to the lowest level since april of 2009 before the recession ended. the drop came largely because of worsening views on business conditions, jobs and income. it's worrisome since consumer spending is the main driver of the economy and spending can't start without confidence. there's more data due wednesday when investors weigh figures on manufacturing along with the adp report on private sector jobs in july. that's a wrap of the day on wall street. i'm alison kosik in new york. >>> how bad has this month been for the markets? let's start with the s&p, the broadest index in the u.s. down 5.75% this month. you'll remember, of course, this was a

the nasdaq jumped 100 and the s&p rose 38. trading volume on the big board was just under 1.25 billion shares. almost 2.2 billion shares traded on the nasdaq. the day's gains for the dow built steadily through the session. just after 2:00 p.m. eastern is when the earthquake struck, stalling the rally before prices rebounded and ended at the highs of the day. >> susie: joining us to talk about today's market action and the outlook ahead: michael farr, president of his own investment firm, farr, miller washington; and author of a new book, "the arrogance cycle." hi, michael, nice to have you with us today. i know you were dealing with a lot of shakiness near your office. >> the floor underneath he was shaking but certainly it didn't seem to bother the stock market too much, today, susie. it was a pretty strong rally with pretty good breadth. >> susie: what was that all about? the economic news of the the same. we got disappointing numbers on housing. we know manufacturing an manufae job market is not good. with kwe trust this ra

the dow ended up 430 points, the nasdaq jumped 125, and the s&p climbed 53. volume was heavy, but a little less than yesterday's sell-off-- 2.4 billion on the big board and 3.8 billion on the nasdaq. >> susie: let's take a look at what exactly the fed said about the economy. economic growth has been "slower than expected"; job market indicators have been weaker than anticipated; the unemployment rate will "decline only gradually." housing is "depressed"; consumer spending has "flattened"; and "downside risks to the economic outlook have increased." >> tom: so why did investors go on that late-day buying spree today? 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 hard