Stocks: Worst day in two months

By Hibah Yousuf

19/10/2010.

         NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks fell sharply Tuesday, amid reports that a group of bondholders are trying to force Bank of America to repurchase bad mortgages. Investors also weighed a surprise rate hike by the Chinese government, and mixed data on the housing market and corporate results.

          The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 165 points, or 1.5%. All but two of the blue chip index's components were laggards, with Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) leading the decline

       The S&P 500 (SPX) slipped 19 points, or 1.6%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (COMP) shed 44 points, or 1.8%. All three indexes logged their biggest daily drops since Aug. 11.
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US military accepting gay recruits

The US military has started accepting gay recruits after a California judge last week struck down the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring openly gay people from serving.

20 October 2010
BBC news

New gay recruits are warned that their applications may be rejected if the latest ruling is overturned

But the US defense department says new gay recruits are warned the repeal of the law may be overturned.The Pentagon is appealing against the decision and had asked the judge to reinstate the ban in the interim.But Judge Virginia Phillips on Tuesday formally refused that request.

Some gay activist groups were planning to send people to enlist at recruiting stations to test the Pentagon's announcement that it was accepting recruits who openly state that they are gay.

"If they were to self admit that they are gay and want to enlist, we will process them for enlistment, but will tell them that the legal situation could change," Douglas Smith, spokesman for US Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, said.