Market diary.

The markets took another nosedive for the week ending Jan. 16 as recession fears and continuing effects of the credit crunch gripped Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 289.10 points, falling 2.3 percent to 12,446.10. The losses were steeper on the Nasdaq, which fell 3.2 percent to close at 2,394.59, down nearly 10 percent on the year. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.5 percent to close at 1,373.20. The LABJ index of 200 local stocks lost 2.2 percent of its value to close at 120.62 as 104 stocks declined and 76 advanced. Thirteen of the 18 industry sectors on the LABJ 200 fell, with the largest drop of 6.5 percent in energy/utilities, led by a 7.7 percent plunge in Occidental Petroleum on news of increasing oil inventories and falling crude oil prices. By far the most active stock was Countrywide Financial Corp., which saw nearly 650 million shares change hands and its price jump 16 percent to $5.94 as shareholders reacted favorably to Bank of America's $4 billion buyout offer. An astonishing 54 stocks hit 52-week lows during the week ending Jan. 16, with 13 of those in the financial services sector. Among the biggest losers was California Pizza Kitchen, which fell 22 percent after the chain cut its fourth quarter earnings outlook, citing declining same-store sales.