A fresh batch of scary headlines pushed Wall Street into full selloff mode on Thursday, pushing the Dow more than 350 points into the red and to its lowest level since September 2006. 

The ugly day was sparked by a spike in crude oil prices to a record $140 a barrel, a series of downgrades from Goldman Sachs and more gloomy economy data.

Today's Market

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 358.41 points, or 3.03% to 11453.42, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index declined 38.82 points, or 2.94%, to 1283.15 and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 79.89 points, or 3.33%, to 2321.37 The consumer-friendly FOX 50 fell 27.56 points, or 2.98% to 898.65.

Thursday's selloff means the Dow has lost all of its gains made over the past 21 months. In fact, the Dow has plunged more than 1500 points over just the past five weeks, as the index had traded above the 13,000 mark as recently as May 20. The selling on Wall Street has come as the market grows more pessimistic about the overall economic outlook. 

“It’s the perfect storm...The crux of the problem continues to be what’s going on in the financial and housing industries," Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak told FOXBusiness. "The oil situation is just a pile-on to what’s already a very difficult situation.”

In addition to those problems, Wall Street wasn't helped much on Thursday by the latest labor report, which showed jobless claims were unchanged last week, staying at elevated levels.

“We’ve really got no positives on the horizons here and so the path to least resistance is down," said Richard Sparks, senior equities analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research. 

All 30 stocks on the Dow closed in the red on Thursday and all of them lost more than 1%. General Motors (GM) took the brunt of the damage, diving more than 10% to its lowest level since 1974 after Goldman urged shareholders sell the stock. Also, financial giants like Bank of America (BAC) and AIG (AIG) lost 6% each as the rest of the sector declined sharply. 

The Nasdaq Composite suffered worse losses than the broader market on Thursday, with Research in Motion (RIMM) posting double-digit percentage losses on its earnings and outlook. On the upside, Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) led the Nasdaq 100, posting gains of 5% on its earnings.

“The buyers have basically walked away….Just get on the sidelines and wait for the dust to settle,” Ted Weisberg, veteran trader at Seaport Securities, told FOXBusiness. “You get in periods where nothing works. And that’s sort of the period we are in now…We are not going down forever, but we are at the moment.” 

Crude oil prices soared on Thursday and crossed $140 a barrel for the first time ever. Oil was pushed higher by a number of factors, including another decline in the U.S. dollar, OPEC's president acknowledging that prices could rise to $170 this summer and various reports on a production cut from Libya.

Also, CIBC World Markets forecasted that gas prices will soon hit $7 per gallon, forcing 10 million vehicles off of the U.S. roads over a four year span. Citing growing global demand along with supply challenges, CIBC sees $200 per barrel oil in 2010. Oil closed in New York up $5.09 to $139.64 a barrel, the highest ever close. 

Wall Street has been very worried about the historic surge in oil prices, which have more than doubled from a year ago and translated to $4 per gallon gasoline prices. The record fuel costs have diminished consumer confidence, threatened spending and cut into corporate profits. 

Goldman Sachs (GS) started the gloom and doom early on Thursday, slashing its rating on the entire U.S. brokerage sector to "neutral" from "attractive." Specifically, the firm added Citigroup (C) to its Conviction Sell list, lowering its price target on the bank $4 to $16 and predicting larger losses on $9 billion in second-quarter writedowns. Also, Goldman predicted $4.2 billion in writedowns and a $2 per share loss from Merrill Lynch (MER) in the current quarter.

Not to be outdone, an analyst at Wachovia downgraded Goldman on Thursday to "market perform" from "outperform," citing broader economic and financial issues. 

If that wasn't enough pressure on the stock market, it got more in the form of pessimism surrounding tech earnings and forecasts. Research in Motion (RIMM), the maker of the BlackBerry, doubled its quarterly profit but missed estimates by a penny. RIM also issued a somewhat cautious outlook.

Also, Oracle (ORCL) beat the Street with 47 cents per share in earnings but warned shareholders in its conference call on Wednesday that conditions "continue to be difficult," issuing guidance that failed to impress Wall Street. Shares of Oracle and RIM fell sharply on Thursday.

Data Dump

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims were unchanged last week at 384,000. Economists polled by Dow Jones had been looking for a modest decline of 6,000 claims. Also, continuing claims rose by 82,000 -- remaining over the pivotal 3 million mark for the ninth straight week.

The government also upwardly revised its final reading on first-quarter GDP to 1%, as had been expected by economists. The reading confirms that the economy continued to grow despite a myriad of pressures, but only at a snail's pace. Wall Street has shifted its attention toward determining if the GDP readings for the current quarter and the rest of the year will also remain in positive territory.

According to the National Association, existing home sales rose by 2% in May as median home prices declined by 6.3%. The rise in sales was just the second over the past 10 months, however inventories remain at high levels of almost 11 months worth of supply. The NAR also said about one-third of total May existing homes sold were done so "under distress." 

Corporate Movers

General Motors (GM) plunged after Goldman Sachs to add the stock to its “Americas Sell List” and slash its rating to “sell” from “neutral.” Goldman cited equity dilution a possible dividend cut and liquidity issues. The firm also slashed its price target on Ford (F) from $8 to $5.

Anheuser-Busch (BUD) is reportedly prepping for a potentially ugly fight with Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev, which filed suit in Delaware to confirm shareholders can oust A-B's board if the battle goes hostile. A-B, which is the largest U.S. brewer, rejected InBev's unsolicited $46 billion bid late this afternoon, arguing it doesn’t set a fair price tag on the company. 

Yahoo! (YHOO) shuffled its corporate structure on Thursday as it continued to defend its decision to reject takeover efforts from Microsoft (MSFT). It marks the third time over the past 1-1/2 that Yahoo! has rearranged its chain of command. Also, billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, who owns a 5% stake in Yahoo!, nominated nine directors to potentially oust the company's current board. If the nominees are selected, Icahn said he will tell Microsoft all talks of alternative transactions are over unless it can insure a stock price of $33 or higher. 

Bank of America (BAC) said it sees eliminating 7,500 positions as it nears close to finalizing its $2.8 billion deal to acquire Countrywide Financial (CFC). BofA said the job cuts will take place throughout the country and over the next two years.

Lennar (LEN) trimmed its second-quarter loss but still suffered from a 61% plunge in revenue amid millions in writedowns. The home builder's stock tumbled after it posted adjusted-earnings of 16 cents per share, easily topping estimates from Thomson Reuters for 55 cents.

Discover Financial (DFS) beat the Street with adjusted-earnings of 42 cents per share in the second quarter, topping estimates by a nickel. Saying it posted “solid” results, the credit card company said card sales grew by 2% to $22.5 billion while managed loans grew 2% to $47.8 billion. 

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has a "wish list of coveted institutions" it would like to acquire, including Washington Mutual (WM), Sun Trust (STT), PNC Bank (PNC) Wachovia (WB) and US Bancorp (USB), the New York Post reported, citing unnamed sources. Just a few weeks ago JPMorgan finalized its deal to acquire Bear Stearns at a firesale price after the investment bank nearly collapsed. 

Nike (NKE) took a 10% dive even after the company beat the Street with a 12% increase in fourth-quarter earnings. The decline in Nike's stock came due to fears the company's domestic sales will suffer as the U.S. economy weakens. 

ConAgra (CAG) declined to 52-week lows after the food product company said it earned $201 million, or 41 cents a share, compared to $192 million, or 39 cents a share, a year ago. Analysts were expecting earnings of 34 cents.

World Markets

The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a gauge of the 50 biggest companies in Europe, fell 94.05 points, or 2.72%, to 3366.35. The FTSE 100, London's benchmark index, dropped 147.90 points, or 2.61%, to 5518.20.

On the continent, Paris's CAC 40 Index lost 110.10 points, or 2.43%, to 4426.19 while Germany's DAX fell 158.24 points, or 2.39%, to 6459.60.

In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 7.6 points, or 0.05%, to 13822.32. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 179.49 points, 0.79%, 22455.67.