Another dismal day on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 300 points to hit the low not seen since 1997. As the investors say "good-bye" to the 7000-point Dow (it’s now a 6,763-point Dow) many are wondering if they have a 5,000-point Dow to look forward to. Large companies drastically cut the dividends they pay out to the shareholder, which contributed to the sell-off today. And worries about the financial sector persist. Today, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve announced that AIG will receive another $30 billion in bailout funds. The insurer holds the dubious honor of posting the largest quarterly loss of any corporation, to the tune of $61.7 billion. Let’s just pause for a moment, because… THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY! But the potential fallout from the collapse of the company will cost even more. The AIG insures 100,000 companies, municipalities and retirement plans, potentially affecting 100 million Americans. Uncle Sam is stuck between the rock and the hard place. The Institute for Supply Management came out with its manufacturing index today, showing a decline for the 13th straight month. February factory index was at 35.8, as opposed to the January reading of 35.6. Any number below 50 signals contraction in manufacturing activity. The economic news was gloomy today, but there IS one place we could look to for comic relief: Obama’s cabinet nomination process. President Obama’s nominee for USTR, Ron Kirk, has a bit of a tax problem. Ahhh… thank you—we needed that!