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Despite the scares, the floor traders heed the buttons they are wearing: DON'T PANIC. The Dow zigzags to a closing loss of 77.42 points, still worrisome. The N.Y.S.E. announces that on the next three trading days the market will close at 2 p.m.
WASHINGTON, 8 P.M.
Reagan wobbles a bit on his press conference tightrope. He tacitly concedes that the U.S. is in an economic mess.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23
TOKYO, 2 P.M.
After a calm morning, a rumor wafts through the exchange: Iran is about to accept a cease-fire in its gulf war with Iraq. High-tech stocks like Matsushita and Fujitsu take off. But the Japanese government cannot confirm the report, and stocks retreat. In the final hour, a wave of panic selling drives the index down by 1203.23 points, to 23,201.22. It is Tokyo's second worst one-day beating ever.
FRANKFURT, 3 P.M.
The U.S. dollar ends the week at 1.8060 marks, vs. 1.8015 a week earlier. The gain is modest but ironic, in view of the intention expressed by U.S. officials the weekend before to improve U.S. competitiveness by allowing a decline.
NEW YORK, 2 P.M.
The N.Y.S.E. closes two hours early with a minute change in the Dow (up .33 points, to 1950.76). Pondering the incredible week, Manhattan Investment Banker Felix Rohatyn, a staunch critic of Reagonomics, says he sees a new world in which governments are "held hostage" by the financial markets. He adds, "We really do not know what we've created. It's high tech and it's transnational and more powerful than anything we could ever have imagined."
NEW YORK, 3:30 P.M.
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Trader John Sesko goes straight from his company's trading floor to an automated bank machine elsewhere in Manhattan. Sesko punches its buttons, withdraws $100 and puts the money in his pocket. The cash, he says, "gives me a sense of security." Then he climbs onto a commuter train and sleeps all the way home to suburban Connecticut.
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DESCRIPTION: Arrow shows 11% loss from 3783 to 3362 in Hong Kong.
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DESCRIPTION: Arrow shows 23% loss from 2247 to 1739 in New York.; millions of shares traded on 10/16 and 10/19 in New York.
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DESCRIPTION: Arrow shows 9 1/4% loss in New York.
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DESCRIPTION: Arrow shows 6% gain from 1739 to 1841 in New York.
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DESCRIPTION: Arrow shows 8% gain from 1802 to 1944 in London.
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DESCRIPTION: Arrow shows 10% gain from 1841 to 2028 in New York.
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