Is it ‘Black Monday?’ Dow Recovers Somewhat, Down 588 at Close

Monday was a nail-biter on Wall Street.

UPDATE: 08/24/2015  5:35pm  The Dow ended the trading day down about 588 points to close at 15,871.  The S&P 500 lost 78 points to close at 1,893 and the NASDAQ lost 180 points to close at 4,526.

UPDATE: 08/24/2015 2:38pm U.S. oil prices have closed today at $38.24 a barrel; the price of Brent crude oil fell to about $43 a barrel, marking the first time that it has dropped below $44 a barrel since 2009.

UPDATE: 08/24/2015 2:23pm  Recovery is the key word this afternoon as the Dow has gained back some of what it lost this morning.  At this time the Dow is down just about 340 points.

UPDATE: 08/24/2015 10:34am The Dow is down 647.06 points to 15,812.69; the NASDAQ is down 150.24 points at 4,558.62; and the S&P 500 is down 53.42 at 1,917.47.

UPDATE: 08/24/2015 10:07am  Stocks have "recovered" half of this morning's losses, now losing 500 points in early trading.  Some analysts are calling August 24, 2015 "Black Monday."

UPDATE: 08/24/2015  10:01am The Dow Jones Industrials have now dropped 1,080 points.  The New York Stock Exhange had invoked the rarely-used Rule 48 for this morning's in anticipation of an expectledy volatile opening.

Original Story:

The Dow Jones Industrials have dropped nine hundred points at this morning's opening bell.

At Friday's closing bell the Dow Jones Industrials had dropped 531 points.  The NASDAQ had lost 171 points, and the S&P 500 lost 65 points.

Closing numbers on Friday were as follows:

• Dow Jones Industrials       16,460
• NASDAQ                             4,706
• S&P 500                              1,971

Friday's losses represent the biggest percentage drop for the S&P 500 in almost four years.

Investors are looking at the potential instability of interest rates in the United States following a slowdown in China's economy as well as a steady decrease in oil prices worldwide.