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Wall Street completed "its worst five days in five years," as CBS' Anthony Mason put it, with another triple-digit drop on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. On the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Mason smelled "fear" that bad real estate loans were infecting the entire financial system: "You are hearing anything from maybe it is a $100bn problem, maybe it is a $500bn problem." Over at the CNBC financial news cable channel, anchor Erin Burnett agreed that "it is not just a Wall Street issue--it is a Main Street issue" but she offered the argument against fear: "This situation is still temporary as we work off the excesses of a very long period of extremely low interest rates."
On ABC, Betsy Stark (no link) concentrated on housing instead of the stock exchange. When Countrywide Financial, the largest lender of mortgages on the nation, was reported to have trouble raising capital, Stark offered this warning to any potential homebuyer: "Even if you have good credit, lenders want more money down and more proof that you are a good credit risk." CBS' Mason detailed the continued distressed state of real estate: "Existing homes sales fell in 41 states from April to June. Meanwhile foreclosures continue to soar."
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