final hour

Wall Street's best day in two weeks — and one of its best ever — was a joyless rally. Even a manic, final-hour stampede of buying that sent the Dow Jones industrials soaring almost 900 points did nothing to dispel the feeling that the market could turn on investors in an instant.

The chaotic hour before Wall Street's closing bell has never been for the faint of heart. These days, it's been absolutely brutal.

Stocks have stepped up their selling in the final hour of trading. The Dow Jones industrial average is off more than 600 points, dropping below the 9,000 mark for the first time in five years.

U.S. stocks blasted higher in the final hour of trade Thursday in a fourth day of roller-coaster activity amid reports the government is considering a permanent solution to the credit crisis and as regulators ...