US stocks tumble for second day
US stocks plunged for a second straight day today, falling to a range not seen in six years as financial and energy stocks tumbled and as demand for the safety of government debt spiked to historic levels.
Stocks, which had been weak for much of the session, lost ground after hopes faded that lawmakers would soon put together an aid package for the US automakers and as major indexes like the Standard & Poor’s 500 index broke through lows established in 2002. That breach of key technical thresholds sent a shudder through the market and touched off further selling.
