It was an ugly start to the week on Wall Street as the blue chips lost 239 points on renewed fears about the health of the nation's banking sector. 

Today's Market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 239.61 points, or 2.11% to 11131.08, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index slid 23.39 points, or 1.86%, to 1234.37 and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 46.31 points, or 2.00%, to 2264.22. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 dropped 19.37 points, or 2.17% to 872.85.

The bears are clearly still in charge on Wall Street. After staging a rally of nearly 700 points over a two-week span in July, the blue chips have plunged about 500 points since last Wednesday in a pair of huge selloffs. 

Despite starting the day with just slight losses, the stock market steadily lost more and more of its value on Monday, ending at its lowest levels of the session. The latest selloff was sparked by more worries that there are serious troubles still ahead for battered financial stocks, whether it be more writedowns, new capital needed or outright failures among regional banks. 

“There's definitely jitters. It’s a matter of what else is out there,” said Paul Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates. “It very much revolves around the financials. They are getting whacked pretty good here today."

Aluminum titan Alcoa (AA) was the lone Dow stock keeping its head above water on Monday, rising nearly 3% after an investment firm upped its stake in the company. Insurer AIG (AIG) led the way down, plunging 12% amid a broad financial selloff and after CNA Financial (CNA) reported a 17% decline in second-quarter earnings. Citigroup (C) and General Motors (GM) also took big hits on the Dow on Monday, diving 7.5% a piece.

The Nasdaq Composite didn't fare any better than the broader market. Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) was among the worst performing stocks on the Nasdaq 100, falling 16% after reporting quarterly results and receiving FCC approval for its takeover of XM Satellite Radio (XMSR). Biotech company Amgen (AMGN) led the advancers, rising 12% on a positive drug trial and analyst upgrades. 

Financial stocks took the brunt of the damage on Monday, sliding nearly 5% as a group. Merrill Lynch (MER) fell the furthest, diving around 11% despite an absence of major company news. 

“There's ongoing concerns that there is going to be another IndyMac out there," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jeffries & Co. “The concerns aren’t new; they are just manifesting themselves today.”

Over the weekend the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shut down branches of the 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank N.A. Earlier this month the government took control of Pasadena, Calif.-based IndyMac, a mortgage lender that suffered a run on the bank.

Meanwhile, the latest earnings reports failed to motivate Wall Street to buy stocks. 

Earnings from a trio of food companies were mixed as Kraft Foods (KFT) and Wrigley (WWY) beat the Street but chicken giant Tyson Foods (TSN) badly missed estimates as its net income plunged 92%. 

Verizon Communications (VZ), the lone Dow component announcing earnings on Monday, posted a 12% rise in second-quarter profit as it topped analyst estimates. The telecom's adjusted-earnings were 67 cents per share, compared to the average estimate of 65 cents. Verizon's revenue rose 3.7% to $24.1 billion, compared to $23.3 billion a year ago.

Wall Street remains focused on the price of crude oil, which has plunged more than 15% over the past two weeks. While crude futures closed at their lowest level since June 4 last week, they rebounded modestly on Monday. Crude closed $1.47 higher at $124.73 a barrel. 

Even with the slight rebound, crude has been under pressure as energy traders worry that record gasoline prices will continue to dampen demand. The government said Monday morning that U.S. highway miles driven slid a record 3.7% in May, down 9.6 billion miles. Overall during the November to May period, U.S. drivers traveled 40.5 billion miles less than a year ago due to the high fuel prices. 

Corporate Movers

Tyson Foods (TSN) saw its stock slide as it reported a 92% dive in fiscal third-quarter net income. Tyson, the world's largest producer of chicken, posted an adjusted-profit of 1 cent per share, compared to average estimates from Thomson Reuters for 12 cents. Tyson has been hurt by the rising price of corn, which hit several records this year. 

Alcoa (AA) rose sharply after the aluminum company said Highfields Capital plans to acquire up to 8% of Alcoa’s stock, including the 2% it already owns. CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said the company has met with Highfields and believes it understands their views.

Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) closed significantly lower after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson released a new plan for using covered bonds. The plan is aimed at funneling new cash into the mortgage market. The plan could reduce the weight of mortgages that Fannie and Freddie currently back or own, which amounts to more than $5 trillion.

Kraft Foods (KFT), maker of Oreos and Velveeta, posted better-than-expected quarterly results Monday morning. The largest North American food maker's adjusted-profit rose to 58 cents per share as sales jumped 21.4% to $11.2 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings, excluding items, of 50 cents a share on revenue of $10.7 billion. Kraft's results were helped by price increases which helped offset the rising costs of dairy and other ingredients. 

General Motors (GM) was among the worst performing stocks on the Dow as the auto maker released plans to slash production by another 117,000 vehicles. The changes, which center on trucks and SUVs, are being made by eliminating one shift each at plants in Moraine, Ohio and Shreveport, La. The production reductions will result in 1,760 job cuts, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) finally got the green light from the FCC for its $3.3 billion takeover of rival XM Satellite Radio (XMSR). The approval, which came late Friday by a narrow 3-2 vote, means subscribers will be able to receive satellite radio from both services. The deciding vote was cast only after the companies said they would settle charges over violating FCC rules. Meanwhile, Sirius narrowed its second-quarter adjusted loss to $24 million as its subscribers rose 7%. 

Amgen (AMGN) soared 12% on positive developments on a potential blockbuster osteoporosis drug, prompting several analyst upgrades. The biotech company said late Friday that a new trial showed the drug candidate, denosumab, was effective without a higher incidence of serious side effects than a placebo. While upgrading the stock to "market outperform" from "market perform," a Rodman & Renshaw analyst said the drug's status as a "future blockbuster" is secure. Amgen reports quarterly results after the closing bell on Monday. 

Google (GOOG) faced another competitor, this time in the form of a new search engine called Cuil, which went live on Monday. The search engine is run by several former Google engineers and is backed up by $33 million in investments from venture capitalists. Cuil claims to be able to search 120 billion Web pages, which it says is three times as much as Google, which doesn't release those figures. Google is the overwhelming favorite in the search market with 62% of the market share in the U.S., according to comScore data. 

Wrigley (WWY) beat the Street with an adjusted second-quarter profit of 74 cents a share, up from 62 cents a year ago. Those results solidly beat Thomson Reuters consensus estimates of 68 cents for the Chicago-based company. Sales rose 14% during the period to $15.7 billion. Wrigley is scheduled to be acquired by privately-held candy company Mars for $23 billion.

Republic Services (RSG) sought to avoid a $6.19 billion takeover by fellow garbage disposal company Waste Management (WMI) by announcing a poison pill that will penalize large-scale share purchases made without the board's approval. Waste Management's bid, which was denied by Republic Services, was part of a plan to terminate Republic's $6.1 billion offer for Allied Waste Industries (AW).  

World Markets

The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a gauge of the 50 biggest companies in Europe, fell 37.72 points, or 1.13%, to 3313.41. The FTSE 100, London's benchmark index, lost 40.00 points, or 0.75%, to 5312.60.

On the continent, Paris' CAC 40 slid 52.73 points, or 1.20%, to 4324.45, while Germany's DAX declined 85.56 points, or 1.33%, to 6351.15.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 53.50 points, or 0.24%, to 22687.21 while Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 19.02 points to 13353.78.