Dow Watch: Another Gloomy Day

(At 4:23 p.m. EDT)

The Dow put up a valiant fight, but once again the blue chip average finished in negative territory Tuesday.

A decline of only 16 points is a lot easier for the bulls to swallow than the 200-point drop from Monday, but it still leaves investors to wonder whether the market is in correction mode or whether this is part of a pullback that represents a solid buying opportunity.

In all honesty, I have no clue. Bulls will argue the fact that the Dow hung in there today -- and even spent some of the session in positive territory -- as a positive. Bears will certainly welcome a third straight day of declines. Wednesday's session, which will bring the latest decision on interest rates from the Federal Reserve, becomes even more interesting now.

Bank of America (BAC Quote), JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) and AT&T (T Quote) were the biggest gainers among the 15 Dow components to finish higher Tuesday.

The other half of the 30 Dow members were lead lower by Boeing (BA Quote), which lost 6.5% on the delay of its 737 aircraft.

(At 11:49 a.m. EDT)

Boeing (BA Quote) shares dropped on word it would delay the development of its 787 aircraft. Existing home sales were worst than expected. The Iran election controversy wages on. Ed McMahon has died. Jon and Kate announced their divorce. The weather still stinks in New York. What else could possibly make Tuesday crummier?

For one, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is lower once again, continuing the previous session's massive slide. Lately, the Dow was losing 18 points to 8321. The decline is a drop in the bucket compared to Monday's 200-point plummet, but that's little consolation for bulls who wanted to see the blue chip index stem the decline.