LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: On Wall Street this morning, the opening bell was a signal to the Dow and the Nasdaq to jump off a cliff. Both took dives into the triple digits in the first minutes of trading. The picture has since improved. Here's CNN financial editor Myron Kandel at the business news desk in New York. Mike, what's happening?</s>MYRON KANDEL, CNN FINANCIAL EDITOR: Well, Lou, they jumped off a cliff but with a bungee cord. The market took a cue from the part of the world we just were looking at where Japan reported that its economy was officially in recession, and that sent tremors through the markets not only in the Far East, but in Europe, and that spread to some panic selling in New York on the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange in the early going. The Nasdaq, which cracked 5000 for the first time last year, fell 209 points in early trading. The Dow fell 190. But then, another story: The Dow moved into the plus column. It went to a gain of 70 points. Let's look at the big board right now and we'll see the Dow, which moved just a few minutes ago into the minus column, is now moving up again, up 14 points. The Nasdaq, however, is still down, down 84 points, but that cut that earlier loss by more than half. So a very volatile market today. You know, it's sort of a cliche to say the stock market is on a roller coaster, but that's exactly what it's done today. It hasn't yet found a direction. We still have a couple of hours of trading to go, and who knows where it's going to end up, but right now it's very volatile but a lot better than it was earlier, Lou.</s>WATERS: We know a good cliche when we hear one.
Dow, Nasdaq Dive Off Cliff at Opening Bell