Stocks Keep Bleeding After Fed Cut

Updated from 4:21 p.m. EST

Stocks in the U.S. slid for the fifth straight session Tuesday as an emergency Federal Reserve interest rate cut failed to fully quell recession worries, but Wall Street managed to avoid the massive losses feared after a broad selloff in overseas markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average initially looked poised for a deep plunge, falling as many as 464 points at the open. It recovered somewhat to end down 128.11 points, or 1.06%, to 11,971.19. It was the first time the Dow closed below the 12,000 level since Nov. 3, 2006.

Twenty-two of the Dow's 30 components were in the red, led by losses of 3.2% or more in Coca-Cola (KO Quote), Merck (MRK Quote) and Verizon (VZ Quote). ...