Dow opens below 8,000 for first time

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) - On Wall Street Thursday morning the Dow Jones Industrials opened below 8,000 for the first time in the bear market stretch. Investors are downbeat, in part, over the plight of United States automakers. Executives left Washington with no bailout and little hope that one is coming.

Senate Democrats canceled what was expected to be a showdown vote Thursday, not enough 'yes' votes to tap that $700 billion bailout for carmakers. That is just one concern weighing on investors.

Thursday United States stocks open at their lowest levels in five-and-a-half years, investors girding for a lengthy economic downturn. Financial shares took a big hit. Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup all slid to multiyear lows, on worries a down housing market will bring another wave in the credit crunch.

Adding to economic uncertainty is the fate of carmakers. On day two of tense hearings, lawmakers skewered "Big Three" executives for flying in corporate jets to ask for taxpayer money.

"I mean, couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here?" said Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York.

"Raise your hand if you're going to sell your jet now, in place now, and fly back commercial," Rep. Brad Sherman of California. "Let the record show no hands were raised."

It leaves Detroit's allies in Congress trying to rescue the rescue. It may be a possibility to speed up access to loans already okayed for carmakers, a compromise with Republicans.

"If we get it, I think it'll sail through the House and the Senate," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan.

Cars, in general, are not selling. Sales plunged almost one-third in October. Even imports are idle. New models are piling up at a port lot in California.

Across the board, businesses are slashing prices to sell products. In October, the Consumer Price Index fell a full 1 percent, a record drop. New-home starts were the lowest on record.

Federal Reserve leaders predicted the economy to slow further in the coming year. In fact, the Fed suggested another rate cut may be ahead. That would bring it to a fraction of a percent, a level seen just once in the last 50 years.