US Stocks Plunge in Volatile Trading Thursday
美国股市为何跌?七国财长今开会
Financial markets remain under immense selling pressure as the Dow Jones Industrials fell Thursday by another seven percent, or 675 points, to a five year low of 8,579. Meanwhile, Asian stock prices have plunged in early trading Friday after Thursday's massive Wall Street sell-off as traders predict a protracted recession.
星期四美国金融市场仍然处于巨大的抛售压力之下，道琼斯指数大幅下跌百分之7，总共跌了675点，降到五年来的最低点，收市时降到8579点。
Most of the selling came late in the day during a session that saw considerable volatility. The Dow Jones Industrials closed at their lowest level since August 2003. The closely-watched average has now fallen 37 percent, or more than 5,000 points from its all-time high exactly one year ago.
大多数抛售股票的行动是在星期四下午发生的，当时市场动荡不定。道琼斯指数收市时降到2003年8月以来的最低点。这个人们关注的股票指数已经从一年前的历史最高峰下跌了五千多点。
"We don't want fear to drive the markets. And we're getting to that point where sentiment is a very key factor," said David Gertz, a trader at High Mark Funds.
戴维.格尔兹是高点基金的投资人。他说：“我们不希望让恐惧来驱动市场。但是现在我们正接近这种处境，人们的心理感受目前是非常关键的因素。”
Scott Nations at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange says markets are disappointed that it will be several weeks before the government is able to use the $700 billion set aside for buying up distressed assets. "The $700 billion intervention may be exactly the right move. But if it takes 45 days for that money to get into the system, then we're really stuck for those 45 days," he said.
芝加哥商品交易公司的奈申斯说，美国政府要等几个星期才能使用为收购银行坏胀所准备的7千亿美元的资金。市场对这种情况感到失望。他说：“七千亿美元的救市计划也许是恰到好处的正确行动。但是如果这些钱要等45天才能进入经济活动，我们在这45天里就垮了。”
Both Nations and Gertz spoke on Bloomberg Television.
奈申斯和格尔兹都在彭博电视台上发表了自己的见解。
It was the seventh consecutive daily loss on the New York Stock Exchange. Oil was steady at $86 a barrel and gold was down $20 to $886 an ounce.
纽约证券市场已经连续七天股市下跌。石油价格目前处于稳定，每桶售价86美元。黄金下降了20美元，跌到886美元一盎司。
On Friday finance ministers from the seven richest industrial nations hold a previously scheduled meeting at the U.S. Treasury. That gathering is taking on added urgency as the credit crisis that began in the United States 14 months ago has spread to Europe and around the world. World Bank President Robert Zoellick, who will attend portions of the meeting, says finance officials will be discussing ways to unfreeze the markets so that normal lending can resume.
今天星期五，七个工业化国家的财政部长将在美国财政部举行一次先前安排好的会议。14个月前在美国开始的信贷危机已经扩散到欧洲和全世界，给这次会议平添了一种紧迫感。世界银行总裁佐利克将参加一部分财长会议，他说，财长们将讨论市场解冻的途径。解冻市场是为了恢复正常的贷款活动。
"What you saw with some of these financial institutions, even if they had a good capital based, they didn't have the liquidity to be able to respond promptly to people wanting to take money out of the system," he said.
佐利克说：“我们现在看到的金融机构的情况是，即使它们的资本基础很好，它们也没有能力向那些想从金融体系中借到现金的人支付现金。”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson also plans to convene a special meeting on Saturday of finance ministers and central bank chiefs from 20 industrial and developing countries.
美国财政部长保尔森也计划在星期六召集一次特别会议，同来自20个工业化国家和发展中国家的财长和中央银行行长讨论目前的形势。
