The Dow failed on Wednesday to post a meaningful rebound from its 298-point selloff a day ago but the benchmark index again narrowly avoided sinking to new six-year lows despite continued economic fears. 

Today’s Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average  rose 3.03 points, or 0.04%, to 7555.63, the S&P 500 lost 0.75 points, or 0.10%, to 788.42 and the Nasdaq Composite sank 2.69 points, or 0.18%, to 1467.97. The consumer-friendly FOX 50 rose 0.56 points, or 0.10%, to 589.38.

“Considering how bad yesterday was and how bleak it was, I think not going further down today should be taken as a victory,” said Michael James, senior equity trader at Wedbush Morgan Securities. “The stage is set for a little bit of a decent rally try” before Friday because the market is slightly "oversold.”

Aside from the mortgage relief plan, the markets were focused on new, gloomy economic forecasts from the Federal Reserve, restructuring plans announced by General Motors (GM) and Chrysler and new data showing housing starts plunged to another record low in January.

“People are just shell-shocked from everything that has happened over the past 15 months. People are afraid to start investing again,” NYSE trader David Henderson of Raven Securities told FOX Business.

By ending above the pivotal 7552.29 threshold, the Dow avoided breaking through its November low and sinking to the lowest level since March 2003. Still, it’s worth noting that the Nasdaq Composite and the broad S&P 500, which traders watch more closely, remain solidly above their November lows.

“I’m still pretty negative. We’re still in a lot of trouble and I’ll be very surprised if we aren’t fairly below last year’s lows some time soon," said James. “My opinion has not changed over the past few months. There will be pockets of strength sporadically but make no mistake, we are still in a bear market."

Wal-Mart (WMT) and Proctor & Gamble (PG) led the way up on the Dow, canceling out heavy losses from GM and Bank of America (BAC). 

$75B for Mortgage Relief

Much like the rest of the government's rescue plans released during the recession, the markets did not rally around the Obama Administration's $75 billion effort to halt the parade of foreclosures in the U.S. 

The mortgage plan, which is aimed at helping up to 9 million Americans avoid foreclosure, includes a $75 billion initiative to help up to 4 million “responsible homeowners” stay in their homes. The government also said Wednesday it will boost funding to mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) to $200 billion each in an effort to stabilize the mortgage market. 

"In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to deepen -- a crisis which is unraveling homeownership, the middle class, and the American Dream itself. But if we act boldly and swiftly to arrest this downward spiral, every American will benefit," President Barack Obama said in a speech on Wednesday. 

The markets remain skeptical at best as James said: “There are too many logistical problems to believe that $75 billion is going to save 9 million people from foreclosure.”

Fed, Big 3 in Focus

The Federal Open Market Committee’s newly-released minutes revealed the central bank has lowered its projections for 2009 gross domestic product and sees jobless rates rising as high as 8.8% by the end of the year. FOMC members "generally expected that the recovery would be unusually gradual and prolonged.”

In a speech on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the emergency actions the Fed has taken to fight the economic and credit crises. The Fed "has done, and will continue to do, everything possible within the limits of its authority to assist in restoring our nation to financial stability and economic prosperity as quickly as possible."

Giving further evidence of their precarious state, GM and Chrysler LLC told the government late Tuesday they need an additional $22 billion in loans to avoid collapse. The White House has not ruled out government-financed Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings for GM and Chrysler, which have already received $17.4 billion in loans. GM unveiled plans to slash an additional 47,000 workers and shut down a total of 14 plants, while Chrysler said it will lower capacity by 100,000 units and cut 3,000 jobs.

In the commodity markets, crude oil futures took a late-day tumble, building on Tuesday's selloff. The price of a barrel of crude settled down 31 cents to $34.62. Gold prices continued their march towards all-time records, settling up $10.70 per ounce to $977.70 -- the highest settle since July 15.

Data Dump

The Commerce Department said January housing starts fell by a worse-than-expected 16.8% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 466,000 -- the worst level on record. 

The Fed's industrial production report showed production fell by a steeper-than-expected 1.8% last month. Also, the Labor Department said import prices tumbled by 1.1% in January, the sixth-straight month of declines but not as steep as economists had expected. 

Corporate Movers

Deere (DE) posted a weaker-than-expected decline in profit to 48 cents per share and slashed its full-year forecast by 20%.

Sirius XM Radio (SIRI), which received a $530 million loan from Liberty Media (LINTA) to stave off bankruptcy on Tuesday, turned down a $700 million proposal from satellite mogul Charles Ergen for 51% control of the company, The Wall Street Journal reported. T

General Electric (GE) CEO Jeff Immelt will take no bonus for 2008 and received a 28% decline in compensation. However, four other top execs saw their compensation packages rise.

Monsanto (MON) sees weaker-than-expected 2009 earnings in the range of $4.40 to $4.50 per share.

Constellation Energy (CEG) widely missed estimates with an adjusted-profit of 3 cents per share.

Goodyear Tire (GT) reported a fourth-quarter adjusted-loss of $1.18, much steeper than the $1.13 a share loss analysts had expected. The company also said it plans to cut 5,000 jobs, lower production and freeze salaries.

Comcast (CMCSA) tumbled to 52-week lows after the largest U.S. cable operator reported losing 233,000 basic video subscribers and said it won’t likely complete its share buyback program. However, Cablevision posted a better-than-expected adjusted-profit of 27 cents per share.

Owens Corning (OC) missed estimates by reporting an adjusted-profit of 13 cents per share. The maker of insulation products said it plans to cut spending and may reduce its headcount. 

MBIA (MBI), the beleaguered bond insurer that made headlines for most of late 2007, said it will split into two separate companies, one focusing on public financing and the other on structured products.

Global Markets

European markets took another tumble as the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.07% to 2112.38 -- another fresh six-year low -- London's FTSE 100 sank 0.68% to 4006.65 and Germany's DAX was off by 0.28% to 4204.96.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.45% to 7534.44 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.55% to 13016.00.