After dropping sharply Thursday, the stock market plummeted again this morning and then rebounded back to positive turf shortly before noon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 387.18, or 2.83 percent, to 13,270.68, Thursday, and dipped again by more than 200 points in early morning trading today.
The catalyst for the market's collapse was a French bank's announcement that it is freezing three investment funds that had invested in U.S. subprime mortgages. The announcement by BNP Paribas raised speculation that American consumers - and their lenders - are laden with bad credit that they cannot repay, and the U.S. housing market continues to plummet.
Meanwhile, Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest U.S. home lender, said today that problems in the U.S. mortgage market pose a serious threat to its earnings and financial condition.
The Federal Reserve Bank added $24 billion in temporary reserves to fortify the U.S. banking system Thursday, and the Fed took further action today by announcing it would accept $19 billion in mortgage-backed securities.
Locally, the BizTimes Stock Index, which measures the collective value of the stocks of publicly held companies based in southeastern Wisconsin, fell 2.89 points Thursday to close at 186.98, well off its record close of 205.43, which was posted July 13.
Local stocks tumbled sharply again this morning. The largest local decliners this morning included MGIC Investment Corp. (down $7.91 to $33.88), Bucyrus International Inc. (down $2.65 to $68.99), Kohl's Corp. (down $2.55 to $57.09) and Ladish Co. (down $2.26 to $50.50).
Within the storm, Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. downgraded the stock of Milwaukee-based Briggs & Stratton Corp. to "underperform" after the small engine manufacturer completed a sluggish fiscal year and provided a disappointing outlook for 2008.
"Meanwhile, we remain cautious on consumer demand as housing market fundamentals deteriorate," Baird reported.

AirTran Holdings Inc.'s "final offer" to acquire Midwest Air Group Inc. will likely expire without action today and will likely be extended again before trading opens on Wall Street Monday morning.
AirTran is engaged in a hostile bid to take over the Oak Creek-based parent company of Midwest Airlines. AirTran has until Monday morning to extend its offer.
Meanwhile, Midwest's board says it has opened discussions with four parties that have expressed interest in acquiring the company.
Midwest today reported July performance data, including record traffic and load factors for the month.
At the group level, a 25.9-percent increase in traffic outpaced a 24.9-percent increase in capacity, resulting in a 0.7 percentage point increase in load factor compared with July 2006. However, revenue per total available seat mile decreased 3.5 percent in the same time period.

2-Story Creative, the Milwaukee advertising/design agency previously known as E & Company, unveiled its new name and identity Thursday night during an open house gala at its new office in the Walker's Point neighborhood.
The new office is located at 641 W. National Ave.
"It's rewarding to finally establish a permanent home in the heart of the Milwaukee community and an identity that reflects who we are," said company founder Ellen Homb, who has overseen the agency's growth from a home business to a full-service agency with six full-time employees.
Established in 1994, 2-Story Creative provides marketing support, graphic design, advertising and public relations to a client base that includes the Milwaukee Brewers, the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
For additional information, visit, http://2-story.com.

U.S. Bancorp announced today it will create up to 70 new jobs when it opens a new call center in downtown Eau Claire in September.
The call center will be located on the second floor of U.S. Bank's main office at 131 S. Barstow.
"We're thrilled to bring 70 great jobs to this community, and to assist in Eau Claire's downtown revitalization efforts," said Darin McFadden, president of U.S. Bank's Eau Claire market. "I think it says a lot about the quality of our hard-working and committed employee base here in the Chippewa Valley and the importance of the Eau Claire market going forward."
U.S. Bank currently employs more than 1,000 people at its five 24-hour retail call centers located throughout the United States in St. Paul, Minn.; Milwaukee; Cincinnati, Ohio; Denver, Colo.; and Portland, Ore.
"Expanding our call center resources is indicative of U.S. Bank's growth nationwide and allows us to continue delivering five star service through this popular delivery channel. Also, bringing these jobs to Eau Claire aligns with our strategy of answering the increasing number of calls we receive from our customers on American soil, rather than outsourcing them overseas," McFadden said.

Cedarburg company is Forbes business plan semi-finalist
Raffel Comfort Sciences, a Cedarburg-based manufacturer and designer of personal comfort products, has been selected as one of 20 semi-finalists in Forbes.com's "Boost Your Business" contest.
Forbes.com is inviting people to help choose the best small business plan submitted from entrepreneurs across the country. The voting is now open, and all of the plans are available for review at www.forbes.com/boostyourbiz.
The contest is sponsored by Hewlett Packard.
Raffel Comfort Science and its flagship brand Tranquil Ease offers massage, sleep, therapeutic and personal comfort products that promote wellness, relaxation and a stress-free mind, body and spirit.
Founded more than 35 years ago, Raffel creates personal comfort products and stress management systems for indoor/outdoor, home, office and automobile use, including a wide range of massage, sleep, heat therapy, and memory foam bed topper products. Raffel utilizes state-of-the-art technology to provide a broad range of manufacturing, design and engineering expertise to create and distribute products at-retail and in the OEM furniture market.
"We are ecstatic and proud to have been selected as one of 20 companies from a field of over one thousand," said John Howman, chief executive officer of Raffel Comfort Sciences. "We urge everyone that is familiar with our line of massage products to vote on Forbes.com, and we thank them for their loyal support."
The 20 semi-finalists represent an array of industries - from energy and security to toddler gear and gourmet foods - and are headquartered around the country. In the first phase of the contest, nearly 1,000 small-business owners submitted 500-word business plans.
Based on the voting, five finalists will be flown to New York City to give live presentations to an expert panel of judges. The winner will receive $100,000 in cash. Runner-ups will be awarded HP products and services.

As a new hotel opens with a view of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, another developer is proposing to build a $19 million hotel in downtown La Crosse. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com.

Busy readers of the BizTimes Daily can get a jumpstart on the closing weekend of the Wisconsin State Fair by reading the OnMilwaukee.com Weekend Preview. OnMilwaukee.com is a media partner of Small Business Times.

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In today's Milwaukee Biz Blog, Steve Gardner calls for ethics in the marketing profession. Also, in a weekly bonus blog at OnMilwaukee.com, SBT executive editor Steve Jagler calls for wide-open discussions on reforms to Wisconsin's health care system.