Stocks Track Lower in Volatile Trading

Updated from 9:45 a.m. EST

Stocks in New York were trading with volatility at the kickoff of the final week of 2008 Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 66.5 points at 8449, and the S&P 500 edged down 3.6 points at 864. The Nasdaq was losing 24 points to 1505.

GMAC Financial Services, the auto and mortgage financing arm of General Motors (GM Quote), last week received approval from the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company contingent on completing a debt-for-equity exchange by 11:59 p.m. EST Friday. That designation would give the company access to government programs, including Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP. However, the company remained tight-lipped through the weekend as to whether it met its thrice extended deadline. ...