Dow Watch: Citigroup Climbs, but GE Drops

Updated from 1:06 p.m. EST

Lowest Close in a Dozen Years

(At 5:47 p.m. EST)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finally got some help from Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC).

Unfortunately, nothing else went along, and the index slumped 250.89 points, or 3.4%, to 7114.78 Monday. That's the worst close since May 1997. You read that right.

Citi and BofA, whose shares have been hammered almost daily, were the only gainers on the Dow, rising 9.7% to $2.14 and 3.2% to $3.91, respectively. They were also the most active issues. The only other stock to make a run at a win was GM (GM), which ended the day unchanged at $1.77.

Alcoa (AA) and DuPont (DD) were the worst components on a percentage basis, tumbling more than 7% each. GE (GE) was awful, dropping 5.7% to $8.85.

Really just not a lot of good to report about the day. The decline was the third consecutive setback for the index and the eighth time in the last 10 sessions it has fallen. Since its best-ever closing high in October 2007, the Dow is now lower by a stomach-churning 49.8%. This month the loss stands at 11.1%, and for the year the decrease has widened to 18.9%.

I hate to be a pessimist, but it it's hard to find a reason why this wretched downtrend would end anytime soon and for any measurable stretch.

You want to buy most stocks right now? Maybe they are cheap, but they've been cheap for a long, long time, and they just keep getting cheaper. Good luck if you can afford it.

The Geithner plan wasn't the answer for Wall Street, the stimulus plan hasn't been the solution. The non-nationalization plan was a temporary reprieve for Citi, but is that going to turn things around? Wish I had the answer. Maybe we should try prayer.