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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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The Dow dropped more than 500 points today settling a little over 8500 as weak earnings and a continued drop in oil prices drove recession woes. Intra-day the Dow was down nearly 700 points; the 500 point drop today (which would have been called “Black Something-Day” if it’d happened 12 months ago — it was the Dow’s 7th worst point drop) represents nearly 6% of the index’s total.