Free Republic

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Shares of Countrywide Financial Corp. dropped as much as 19 percent Wednesday on market rumors the mortgage company has been unable to raise money from the commercial paper market. Countrywide officials were not immediately available for comment. "People are buying Countrywide puts very aggressively on Wednesday off of rumors that the commercial paper market could be closed to them," said William Lefkowitz, options strategist at brokerage firm vFinance Investments. Puts are options that allow an investor to sell a stock at a preset price by a certain date. Another trader attributed the drop in the stock...

Stocks were having another back and forth session Wednesday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped under 13,000 for the first time in four months, as continuing credit market jitters kept the market on edge. After recovering from an early swoon to rise by as many as 90 points, the Dow gave back all of those gains and more, and was recently down 130 points at 12,899. The index last closed below the 13,000 mark on April 24. Elsewhere, the S&P 500 was losing 13 points at 1413, and the Nasdaq Composite was sliding 26 points to 2473. The action...