NEW YORK -- Pessimism about a protracted economic downturn washed over the financial markets Thursday, sending stocks plunging and further tightening the credit markets. News of declining factory orders and a seven-year high in jobless claims stoked fears that the government's financial rescue plan won't ward off a recession, and the Dow Jones industrials skidded nearly 350 points.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Ireland's bold decision to guarantee every penny of deposits at Irish-owned banks looks to some like a psychological masterstroke in the banking crisis -- an emergency measure that could force countries across Europe and beyond to follow suit.

NEW YORK -- A measure of U.S. manufacturing activity contracted more than expected last month, hitting the lowest level since the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, as new orders slowed dramatically.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A shaky economy and constricted credit market took a steep toll on September auto sales, with the industry rolling out numbers Wednesday every bit as gloomy as analysts had warned they would be.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate has sweetened its $700 billion rescue package for tottering financial companies with tax breaks broad enough to save 20 million people an average $2,000 a year in higher taxes and narrow enough to help makers of wooden toy bow-and-arrow sets.

WASHINGTON -- Not just Wall Street is running scared.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- So close and yet so far. It's a frustration being felt by Americans who thought the finish line to their working life was almost in sight.

WASHINGTON -- Congress has embraced an idea to help prop up the financial system: Give banks a break by letting them value their bad mortgage assets at a price they could fetch later, not now.