Dow falls below 9,000 (at bizjournals.com)

Gains by European exchanges propelled the Dow to start on an up note on Thursday morning, but by the close of trading it had fallen by 678.91 points to 8,579.19, the lowest it's been in about five years. The NASDAQ fell 95.21 points to 1,645.12. The Dow has suffered six straight days of losses, despite a bailout package in which the government acquires $700 billion in bad mortgages loans and an international effort to cut interest rates. Some of the largest drops for Dayton-area stocks were AK Steel Corp. (NYSE: AKS), which dropped 18 percent to close at $11.53 per share; Rex Stores Corp. (NYSE: RSC), which declined 14 percent to close at $8.04 per share; Standard Register Co. (NYSE: SR), which lost 9 percent to close at $6.44 per share; Robbins & Myers Inc. (NYSE: RBN) dropped 6 percent to... [read full story]