More stock market news: The Ibex 35, Spain's main stock index, is down more than one percent in the first hour of trading this morning. It fell 4% in the first few minutes, and then recovered somewhat. The Ibex went below 12,000 points before its (temporary) comeback. All the banks are off, with Santander and BBVA down 5% each early today. Repsol is down 7% and Telefonica is down 3%.

In Europe this morning, Frankfurt, London, and Paris are down three percent, Zurich is down four, and Milan is down five.

Yesterday's final results showed the Ibex down 7.5% to finish at 12,625 points. The biggest losers were Iberdrola (-12.5%), Sacyr Vallehermoso (-11%), Gamesa (-10%), Repsol (-10%), Santander (-9%), and Acciona (-8.5%).

La Vanguardia's finger-pointing focus this morning is Bush's tax cut plan, supposed to stimulate the economy, which it says is insufficient to stem the market slide. Maybe, but there must be dozens of other factors as well.