Money | stock market Stocks Plunge on Super Committee Failure Dow drops triple digits By Kevin Spak Posted Nov 21, 2011 8:42 AM CST Copied Specialist Donald Vaneck, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Stocks plunged at the opening bell today, thanks to the super committee's failure to reach a deal and the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. As of 9:37am, the Dow was down 158 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P were down 40 and 19 points, respectively, as investors bet that the US would suffer yet another credit rating downgrade. "There's a sense that the US economy is looking down the barrel of a gun but [Washington] cannot figure out what to do," one investor tells the Wall Street Journal. "These downgrades are coming, as sure as the sun comes up tomorrow. They're a foregone conclusion." The US isn't the only country in downgrade trouble, either; the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 2% after Moody's said it might downgrade France in the coming months. Read These Next Beyonce leaves national anthem unfinished. A space capsule carrying ashes of 160 people crashed in the ocean. The death toll in the Texas floods has risen to 27, including 9 kids. Musk says his new party is in business. Report an error