DJIA Today: Stocks Fall Sharply After ECB's Stark Leaves Post, Obama calls for $447B to Make U.S. Jobs, BoA Plans to Slash 40,000 Jobs

Stocks fell sharply at the open on Wall Street this morning, after news that European Central Bank Executive Board Member Juergen Stark would step down from his post over the central bank’s controversial bond buying program. The euro extended a loss versus the dollar, European equities dropped, and U.S. stocks fell as the news renewed worries of the euro-zone’s sovereign debt crisis. In a joint-session address last night, President Barack Obama said the United States faces a "national crisis" and pressed Congress to urgently pass a jobs package of tax cuts and government spending he believes will revive the stalled U.S. economy. Obama wants his “Americans Jobs Act” passed by the end of the year, which would cost $447 billion. With his poll numbers at new lows amid voter frustration with 9.1 percent unemployment, Obama was poised to use a high-stakes address to Congress to pitch a sweeping economic plan that is critical to his chances at re-election. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that they are tightening security around NYC and Washington due to a ‘specific’ and ‘credible’ terrorist threat in both areas, just before the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. The Pentagon announced earlier in the week that they plan on increasing security measures at military bases across the nation, in an effort to avoid a planned terrorist attack this weekend. Gold fell today as investors took profits. Neither Thursday’s speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke nor the one later in the day by President Obama articulated coherent police or gave much hint of what investors face this fall. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Bank of America Corp. plans on slashing roughly 40,000 jobs during the first wave of restructuring, in hopes it will help save the struggling company. The cuts aim to reduce the bank’s workforce of 280,000 over a period of years. Let’s check in with our major indices… the Dow Jones industrial average has shot down almost 245 points, or 2.16 percent, to 11,051.30… the NASDAQ is down 1.48 percent, to 2,491.72… and the S&P 500 index is down more than 2 percent, at 1,162.05. Crude oil has fallen 2.47 percent to $86.85 a barrel. And gold, which is normally a safe haven for investors, fell .6 points, to $1,856.90 an ounce. Now let’s look at our major currency pairs…. The euro dollar fell to a six month low this morning, dipping below the 1.37 mark, and it is currently down 196 pips at 1.3686… the dollar yen is up 13 pips, trading at 77.62… and the pound dollar is down 78 basis points, at 1.5878. The dollar swissie is at .8827, close to the top of its range, up 78 pips… the dollar cad is up 69 points, trading at .9960… and the aussie dollar fell 121 basis points, trading at 1.0453.