Last Updated: January 20th, 2009: 5:00 PM ET---Despite promises of an economic recovery during the nation's new President Barack Obama's inaugural speech, the major US equity indices plunged, ending the session with significant losses on dissapointing earnings reports and forecasts as well as rekindled financial crisis fears. The Dow fell more than 4% to close below the psychologically significant 8,000 level, with all thirty components closing in the red, and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) losing almost a third of its value. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 fared even worse, closing 5.8% lower and 5.3% lower, respectively. The financial sector was the day's worst performing sector, closing 16.7% lower. Monday, the Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS) issued a warning saying it forecasts a loss of up to $41.3 billion for 2008 including writedowns. The UK government then announced it had raised its stake in RBS from 58% to 70%, furthering speculation that the bank would soon be nationalized. Shares of RBS lost more than 60% of their value in overseas trading Monday. Also sparking concern in the financial sector was Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB), who warned of a quarterly loss of almost $6.5 billion. Despite announcing better-than-expected results, State Street (NYSE:STT) shares tumbled more than 50% after issuing flat guidance for 2009 that disappointed investors. According to a report from the Financial Times, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) may cut as much as 4,000 positions from its capital market arm starting as soon as this week. The news comes just days after the bank received another $20 billion lifeline from the government as well as a backstop against $118 billion worth of bad assets. Another Dow component, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) reported quarterly earnings this morning that beat estimates, printing at 97 cents per share, or $2.7 billion, versus 82 cents per share, or $24 billion during the year-ago period. The company provided 2009 guidance of $4.45-$4.55 on a per share basis. Mexican mogul Carlos Slim, the second wealthiest man in the world, could be the largest shareholder of The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) after announcing a $250 million investment. Following the close International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) reported earnings of $3.28 per share, beating estimates. After falling to its lowest level in a month, light sweet crude for February delivery recovered to settle with more than a $2 per barrel gain after a report from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) that said the commodity may stage a "swift and violent rebound" to $65 per barrel during 2009's second half. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 332 points to 7,949, the S&P 500 closed down 45 points to 805 and the Nasdaq Composite Index closed down 88 points to 1,441.

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