Stocks seesawed throughout the day, finally ending today's session mixed, with the Dow closing up. The markets struggled to rebound from serious losses sustained after Bear Stearns' fire sale; buyer JPMorgan Chase's stock closed up 11%. The Dow ended up 21.16 at 11,972.25, the Nasdaq down 35.48 at 2,177.01, and the S&P 500 down 11.54 at 1,276.70.
"I'm optimistic as to the ultimate outcome, but the failure of a major bank is something that goes beyond the isolated event and creates a great deal of systemic risk for the financial markets," one expert told CNNMoney. The dollar also hit an all-time low against the euro, and a 13-year low against the yen. (More stock market stories.)