DOW WENT DOWN AND DOWN

Dow stumbles 280 pts Friday amid broad market sell-off

Last Update: 4:12 PM ET Aug 3, 2007

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks solf off on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing over 280 point and leaving the broad market with steep weekly losses as credit concerns continued. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 284 points at 13,179 on Friday, for a weekly loss of 0.7%. Losses were steeper in the broad market.

The markets all over Latin America went the same direction in a wave of sales which looks like the fear under rational expectations. Experts say that is only the tip of a real big iceberg and tomorrow we will see more of its body.

Already on the decline, the pace of the sell-off quickened after a Bear Stearns' conference call about the impact of band home loans on its funds failed to reassure investors.

"They tried to put their best face on the situation but the market wasn't convinced," said Mike Malone, trading analyst at Cowen & Co.

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COMP2,511.25, -64.73, -2.5% ) were 39.39 points lower at 1,432.81 and off 64.73 points off at 2,511.25.

Volume at the New York Stock Exchange surpassed 2 billion, with declining stocks outpacing advancers 6 to 1.

At the Nasdaq, more than 2.5 billion shares were exchanged, with decliners ahead of advancing stocks 5 to 1.

"It wasn't long ago that Fridays were good in anticipation of more [leveraged buy-outs] and [mergers & acquisitions] over the weekend. Now there has been a shift in sentiment, with fear of bad news coming out over the weekend," said Malone.

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DCX88.95, -2.23, -2.4% ) had closed the sale of its Chrysler unit to Cerberus Capital Management helped stem Wall Street's losses for a brief period, with investors somewhat heartened by closure of the deal, which involved the underwriting banks covering $10 billion in loans after the subprime mortgage mess sapped demand for high-yield debt.

Stocks lost ground on a "disappointing" employment report and anxiety about "Bear Stearns and their credit concerns," John Hughes, managing director at Epiphany Equity Research, told MarketWatch. Listen to Hughes.