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U.S. markets plunge

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes plummeted Monday after five days of positive numbers suggested share values were ripe for a sell-off session.

Data were also weak Monday, as the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed the obvious, declaring the U.S. recession began a year ago.

The Institute of Supply Management said Monday that its leading index of factory activity fell to 36.2, the lowest level in 26 years. The index uses 50 as a break-even point with numbers less than 50 indicating contraction.

By Monday's close, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 679.95 points, or 7.7 percent, to 8,149.09. The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 80.03 points, or 8.93 percent, to 816.21. The Nasdaq composite index fell 137.50 points, or 8.95 percent, to 1,398.07.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 356 stocks advanced and 2,809 declined on a volume of 3.009 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond rose 1 13/32 to yield 2.765 percent.

The euro fell to $1.2625, compared to Friday's $1.2701. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar fell to 93.20 yen, compared with 95.56 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average points to fell 115.05, down 1.35 percent, to 8,397.22.

In London, the FTSE 100 index fell 222.52, down 5.19 percent, to 4,065.49.

Bernanke says rate cuts are 'feasible'

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that further reductions in the current lending rate are possible.

Bernanke directly addressed the addressed the topic in a speech for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce in Texas, saying further rate reductions "are certainly feasible," but pointing out that with the current target rate at 1 percent, "the scope for using conventional interest rate policies to support the economy is obviously limited."

Bernanke said the central bank "must take all steps necessary to minimize systemic risk."

The bank can adjust interest rates -- although rates "cannot fall below zero," he said -- and provide liquidity, a step that "remains effective," he said.

The Fed's options to help the economy also include purchasing longer term Treasury securities to prop up yields, which may "spur aggregate demand," he said.

In that manner, the Fed's announced plans last week to purchase $100 billion in government-sponsored enterprise debt and $500 billion in GSE mortgage-backed securities. "It is encouraging that the announcement of that action was met by a fall in mortgage interest rates," he said.

It's official: U.S. now in a recession

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The referees of the U.S. economy called the recession official Monday, saying the county's economic expansion ended a year ago, in December 2007.

The National Bureau of Economic Research said a conference call on Friday of the group's Business Cycle Dating Committee sealed the fate, officially.

The group, charged with tracking the economy's historic highs and lows, said the previous expansion lasted 73 months, starting in November 2001. The expansion period before that, lasting through the late 1990s, lasted 120 months.

The group noted the gross domestic product fell slightly in the fourth quarter of 2007,rose slightly in the next two quarters and fell again in the third quarter of 2008. The gross domestic income reached a peak in the third quarter of 2007, falling in the fourth quarter and the first quarter of 2008. It rose slightly in the second quarter this year, then fell again in the third quarter.

Both sets of data are tracked by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the reported noted.

Succinctly put, "the committee determined that the decline in economic activity in 2008 met the standard for a recession," the report said.

Cyber deals up on Cyber Monday

NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Online shopping declined 4 percent for most of November, pushing retailers to offer more deals on Cyber Monday, a retail expert said.

"As shoppers focus on price this holiday season, online retailers will be extremely competitive to offer the very best deals," Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org told the Chicago Tribune Monday.

In the first 23 days of November, online retail fell by 4 percent to $8.2 billion, ComScore Inc. reported.

In response, 84 percent of retailers planned to have deals online Monday, up from 72 percent in 2007, the National Retail Federation said.

Of those with the ability to log online at work, more than half -- 56 percent – will do some shopping from work Monday, the NRF said.