Just when investors thought it was safe to return to the stock market, shares across the board tumbled again today after Wall Street suffered its second largest one day fall in a year. Stock markets worldwide have been jittery since the Shanghai market took a 9 per cent dive two weeks ago and triggered the single biggest fall on Wall Street since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Lehman Brothers Reports Record Net Revenues, Net Income and Earnings Per Share.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) today reported net revenues of $12.73 billion and net earnings of $3.20 billion for its first quarter ended February 23, 2007. Diluted earnings per common share were $6.67 compared with $5.08 for the first quarter of 2006 and $6.59 for the fourth quarter of 2006. Annualized return on average tangible common shareholders' equity (1) was 44.7% and annualized return on average common shareholders' equity was 38.0% for the first quarter of 2007.

U.S. stock markets were poised to open strongly as the good employment report contributed to a strong open. After the shock selling of the last week and the 3-day rebound of 250 Dow Jones Average points and recovering just over one-third of the recent 8-day selloff. However; some aggressive traders chose to reduce positions and to wrap up some profits ahead of the weekend.

The Australian share market has added almost 1 per cent after a good lead from Wall Street.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's staff today released a report summarizing the results of recent examinations and analysis of routing and execution practices in equity options.

The Australian stock market has had a volatile couple of days, but has ended the week flat.

On Monday, March 5, Russian stocks continued to fall sharply for the fifth trading session in a row, weighed down by declines in commodity prices and Asian stocks. The majority of emerging markets - including the other BRIC heavyweights India, China and Brazil - remain under heavy selling pressure.

So just why did the markets panic this week, and has the period of steady gains and easy money come to a grinding halt? Kathy Swan reports.

Stock Markets worldwide and in USA rallied Tuesday , but the mixed data and uncertainty keep the U.S. Stocks near flat line on Wednesday morning.