The stage was set Thursday night when a vote on Republican House Speaker John Boehner's Plan B, a fiscal cliff compromise to be presented to U.S. President Barack Obama, never even made it to vote among fellow Republicans. When word came of the setback, all major overnight future indexes sharply dropped.
When markets opened Friday, the slide continued. Shortly after noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 176 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 20 points and the Nasdaq was lower by 43.
Investors appear to be bracing for the worst with just 10 days left before America falls over the cliff, with a deal is nowhere in sight.
Stocks on the Move Today
Shares of Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) rang lower Friday, sinking almost 20% in mid-afternoon trading.RIM reported third-quarter earnings after the close Thursday that showed the BlackBerry maker swung to profitability, but lost about one million subscribers in the quarter. It marked the first time membership has fallen. The real test, analysts say, comes next quarter following the much anticipated release of the company's new Smartphone, the BlackBerry 10.