WASHINGTON – Yesterday’s stock market plunge shows the start of a “correction,” the age-old euphemism for a steep drop in stock prices, but it may also signal worse news than that. A steady stream of recent data shows mixed signals about where the U.S. economy is headed. The old sage himself, Alan Greenspan, suggests recession could be looming. Fasten your seat belts – some economic chop could be coming. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 416 points, or 3.29 percent, in trading yesterday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was off 3.86 percent, and the S&P 500 was off 3.47 percent. It was the largest one-day drop for markets since Sept. 17, 2001, the first day trading resumed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
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