Dow Begins the Day in the Red After All

For an example of how coronavirus is upending the markets, look no further than Monday's Dow futures trading. First, they were down a lot overnight. Then they were up a lot just an hour before the opening bell, thanks to aggressive new Fed action taken to goose the markets. (See the Wall Street Journal for more details on the Fed's moves.) But when the bell finally rang, the Dow dropped a lot again—more than 500 points in the opening minutes, or 2%. (It settled down to a drop of less than 250 around 10am.) The benchmark S&P was down by a slightly larger percentage in the early going. One thing that could reverse the trend yet again Monday is if the Senate finally agrees on a massive stimulus package. Treasury chief Steven Mnuchin said Monday on CNBC that Congress was "very close" to a deal, but he added that it must be done "today." (More stock market stories.)