The market started the new week in a volatile fashion. The Dow, up 110 points at its best and down 160 points at its worst, closed the session modestly lower. The S&P 500 had a similar volatile session before ending the day at the gate of the bear market territory. The closing price for that index is the lowest since July 2006. There is little economic news. A 2% pullback in crude price and some M&A activities failed to boost the stock market.

Financials and energies were among the biggest losers for the session. The former was battered by concerns that financial institutions especially Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae may need to raise more capitals, which could be a difficult task under the current market condition. The CRB commodity index tumbled 2.7%, the biggest since mid-March. Weakness was widespread across energies and agricultures. The US dollar was mixed against most major currencies. Earlier, it was traded higher on speculation that there may be some joint statement regarding the dollar out of the G-8 summit. Treasuries rallied as typical flight to quality. The VIX index jumped 4% and closed at 25.78. The new lows on NYSE and Nasdaq exceeded 1000 issues.