Stocks Sink as Crude Soars

Stocks zoomed downward today as oil topped $123 a barrel, hastening a sell-off by anxious investors. "You can still get a lot of nervousness when they see these daily moves in crude, along with follow-through in the stock market," an analyst tells the Wall Street Journal. The Dow ended down 206.48 to 12,814.35, the Nasdaq 44.82 to 2,438.49, and the S&P 25.69 to 1,392.57.

Oil prices are currently about twice what they were last year at this time. Financials fell fast, led by American International and American Express. One positive hiccup in the downward data was a jump by Disney stock, the Journal notes. Meanwhile, policy-makers are also becoming increasingly worried about the possibility of inflation. (More stock market stories.)