Wall Street Tumbles to 1997 Levels

On Monday, all major stock indexes fell over 3.5% to levels not seen since 1997. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 250 points to close at 7114. Nasdaq shaved 3.71% to 1387 and the S&P500 shed 3.47% to 743.

Important news came out that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and other government regulators said that nationalization of the banking system is not being considered.

Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup's preferred shares may be converted to common by the government. That news lifted Citigroup over 10% Monday as fears about nationalization were calmed.

In other news, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain to testify Tuesday. The issue is why Merrill Lynch executives were compensated over $3.6 billion in bonuses before being sold to Bank of America.

On Wednesday, President Obama's Treasury Capital Assistance Program (TARP) is due to launch in hopes of ailing the troubled banking system.