Market Wrap-Up

Once again traders waited in anticipation of any news of a proposed $700 billion bailout plan working its way through Congress. It appears the Senate will vote tonight on a version of the bill. The House will probably do the same tomorrow. It appears traders have been waiting for clarity on the plan before making any movies. A similar plan, one with a smaller price tag, is making the rounds in Europe, too.

Meanwhile, some investors are using the down turn in stock prices to make timely bets on a turnaround. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) announced it was buying $3 billion worth of preferred shares in General Electric (GE) that pay a 10% dividend. GE's share price had sunk to its lowest level in a decade over concerns about the company's exposure to the credit crisis (GE owns a large financial services subsidiary). Even Buffett's cache couldn't help GE's shares finish the day in the black. They finished the session down 4%.

Crude oil lost $2 a barrel on a government report that weekly inventories increased by 4.3 million barrels.

The stock market jumped around the entire session. At one point it was down over 100 points because of reports on what shape a European bailout plan would take. Then the Berkshire Hathaway news brought it back to almost even territory. At the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 52 points to 10,797.

Winners

Investors gained newfound confidence in financial stocks due to the apparent--and we stress apparent--positive congressional vote on a bailout plan that should play out the next 48 hours and Warren's Buffett's $3 billion investment in GE.

The SPDR KBW Bank ETF (KBW) gained 6.3%. The iShares Dow Jones U.S. Regional Banks fund (IAT) increased 5.8%.

Losers

A larger than expected uptick in oil inventories caused a sell-off in energy commodities ETFs. The Market Vectors Coal fund (KOL) lost 5.6%. The United States Gasoline fund (UGA) dropped 4.4%. The United States Oil (USO) decreased 3.1%

Wednesday's Industry Headlines

Data Point
Russell announced its 3000 Index, a benchmark that encompassed 98% of the tradable U.S. equity market, lost a whopping $1.3 trillion in market capitalization in September.

Thursday's Notebook

Earnings & Conference Calls

Thursday
Constellation Brands, Marriott International

Economic Data

Thursday
No announcements

Quick Take
A look at how the industry's most popular ETFs did on Wednesday.