DJIA TANKS AGAIN.. down 100 to 7365.67 (6% for the week)

[briann]

HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE

On a positive note... those in Gold have $1000/oz prices again.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10465164/1/banks-tank-pull-market-down-with-them.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEFI

Stocks in New York closed on a dim note after a volatile trading session Friday, wrapping up an ugly holiday-shortened week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100.28 points, or -1.34%, to 7365.67, after having been down as much as 200 points in earlier trading. The S&P 500 dropped 8.89 points, or -1.14%, to 770.05. The Nasdaq finished lower by 1.59 points, or -0.11%, at 1441.23, after flirting with positive territory.

Financials were again the point of impact, with losses snowballing as Bloomberg reported that Senator Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said it may be necessary to nationalize some banks for a short time. They found temporary relief, however, after White House press secretary Robert Gibbs assuaged those fears, saying the administration continues to "strongly believe that a privately held banking system is the correct way to go."

Citigroup(C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks) led the decliners on the Dow, falling 18%. Bank of America (BAC Quote - Cramer on BAC - Stock Picks), down more than 33% earlier in the day, pared its losses to a 4%.

"The market wants to see these financials start to show some sort of strength somewhere, and signs that the writeoffs are behind them and they won't have to borrow more money," said Anu Sharma, managing director of the Nasdaq OMX market intelligence desk. "There are a lot of scared investors out there right now and money is going into gold -- it's a flight to quality, and people are nervous and looking for a safe haven."

Indeed, gold futures settled above $1,000 an ounce Friday afternoon. A factor that may be driving this nervousness is that a lot of people had predicted that November lows were the bottom of the market, and now we know they weren't, says Sharma. "It's a technical breakdown and it sets off a sell signal." Moreover, he says, it confirms what a lot of 13F filings, although retrospective, have been showing -- "a huge shift out of equities from institutions."