Thursday

Stocks plummeted today as rumblings of unrest in Saudi Arabia compounded economic worries abroad and in the U.S. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid under 12,000 as it shed 1.9% for the day. Pressure on the major indexes intensified late in the day with reports of Saudi Arabian police taking action against Shiite protesters. Major indexes had already been lower after a downgrade of Spain's government debt, worry about trade in China and a disappointing read on U.S. employment. DJIA -228.48 Nasdaq -50.70 S&P 500 -24.91.