The Journal Record Index was a mirror of the bleak conditions on Wall Street as our trading session ended Oct. 3. It tanked 190.64 points, or 17.74 percent, and ended at 883.79, its worst showing since the index was created in early August 2007. Declining issues nearly obliterated advancing issues at a 42-to-3 count. Tronox was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and removed from the index.

News of the bailout did help the fortunes of BOK Financial Group, sending it ahead $4.58, or 9.69 percent. Although no specific news was released to correspond with BOKF's increase, the company closed at $51.84, and was the top dollar and percentage gainer in the index last week.

Shares of Devon fell $16.25, or 16.45 percent last session, despite a nod toward Devon after word of an oil discovery in the Campos Basin off the coast of Brazil. Friedman Billings, Ramsey analyst Rehan Rashid reiterated his "outperform" rating for the company and his target price of $140. Rashid said the discovery was another reason to own DVN. Devon has a 25-percent working interest in the field. Devon ended the week at $82.51.

Chesapeake Energy hit a new 52-week low last week as oil prices fell sharply and the broader markets fell. Chesapeake said it purchased 24,000 acres and an 80-mile pipeline in the Barnett Shale owned by an Exxon Mobil partnership. Terms were not disclosed. Chesapeake also inked a 10-year agreement to pipe natural gas from Arkansas to Mississippi in a new 187-mile pipeline. Chesapeake fell $9.02, or 23.77 percent, and closed at $28.92.

Although the U.S. House gave a thumbs-up to the retooled $700 billion rescue plan, investors left the market in droves. Wall Street clocked its worst week in seven years as investors looked ahead to see how the plan is implemented. Volatility was the rule as the Dow hit its largest one-day drop in history on Monday after the House rejected the initial bailout plan. Oil prices dropped and payrolls fell by 159,000 jobs in September, more than the 100,000 loss that economists were expecting.

"There's just a tremendous amount of anxiety out there and that's breeding volatility," said Anthony Conroy, head trader for BNY Convergex, affiliated with Bank of New York. "People are concerned that the bailout won't unlock the credit markets, so people are taking a hard look at things. The economic data in the past few days has been bad and the outlook for earnings is fairly bleak. We got over one major hurdle with the rescue plan, but there's more to go."

Originally published by Margot Crabtree.

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