Stocks tumble as Washington blows it again

The session started badly and never came close to recovering. The main reason cited is the failure of the Congressional super-committee to come up with a deficit-reduction plan, though did anyone really believe that a deal was in the cards? Besides, having no deal only means the automatic triggering of cuts in 2013, and goodness knows what might happen by then. Still, the drop provides new concern about a possible downgrade, which along with Europe could get investors jittery about 2012. The Dow finished down 248 points, or 2.1 percent, to 11,547. That brings the blue-chip index into the red for 2011.