Key stock indexes at '97 levels; traders have 'nowhere to hide'

S&P 500 sinks below November low
Updated
By Adam Shell, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Investors, not yet convinced that the buying opportunity of a lifetime has arrived, sent stocks tumbling on Monday to their lowest levels in more than 11 years amid a growing crisis of confidence in the government's ability to fix the ailing financial system.
In what amounts to a psychological blow, the Standard & Poor's 500 closed below its November low. It fell 3.5% to 743.33, extending its bear market losses to 52.5%, its biggest decline since the 1930s.
HITTING BOTTOM?: Maybe not yet
Increasingly, jittery investors are unwilling to commit cash to a stock market riddled with economic uncertainty and a lack of a clear, coherent game plan from the government to rejuvenate the banking system and get credit flowing again. Citigroup shares jumped 9.7% to $2.14 and Bank of America rose 3.2% to $3.91 amid more rumors of coming government aid.
"The biggest issue today is the banks," says Timothy Vick of Sanibel Captiva Trust. "In the absence of a bank plan from the government that makes sense to shareholders, I don't think the economy or stock market will get any upward momentum."