By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
It took a while, but investors eventually decided they liked what they heard from Ben Bernanke, and stock indexes rose enough on Friday to put them into positive territory for August.
The stock market is finishing its worst day since the financial crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 500 points Thursday. Investors are concerned that the U.S. economy will enter another recession and that Europe's debt problems are not closed to being solved.
He noted that pre-Labor Day volume was light, with many investors and traders on vacation, which can contribute to bigger price swings.
In terms of volatility, "it's been the most action we've seen in couple of weeks," said Ryan Larson, a senior equity trader at RBC Global Asset Management.
