Stocks opened sharply lower Tuesday, driving major indexes to their lowest point since early September, after big-name companies reported weak quarterly earnings and lowered their expectations for the rest of the year.
Unions lent their muscle to the long-running protest against Wall Street and economic inequality Wednesday, with their members joining thousands of protesters in a lower Manhattan march as smaller demonstrations flourished across the country.
A drop in the unemployment rate to its lowest in three years propelled the Dow Jones industrial average Friday to its highest close since before the 2008 financial crisis. The Nasdaq composite index hit an 11-year high.
Upbeat reports on retail sales, business inventories and wholesale prices drove stocks higher Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to its highest level since May.
The Dow opened down three-percent Thursday, in part because people fears Greece's financial crisis could spread through Europe and ultimately to the U.S. markets. But experts say a one-day drop is no indication that the market is on a downward spiral.