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Last week, stock markets continued an unprecedented streak of volatility. On Monday, October 13, after the worst week ever, the Dow staged its biggest single-day stock rally since the Great Depression, up 936.42 points.

On Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced they would funnel up to $250 billion from the $700 billion financial rescue package into potentially thousands of banks. The voluntary program would take an equity stake in financial institutions in an effort to help revive the banking sector.

On Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported retail sales decreased 1.2% last month, nearly double the 0.7% drop that had been expected. It was the biggest decline since retail sales fell by 1.4% in August 2005. Also on Wednesday the Labor Department reported that wholesale prices fell for a second straight month, declining by 0.4%, thanks to a big drop in energy costs.

The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities plunged 2.8% last month, the biggest since December 1974, when output fell 3.5%. Economists were forecasting a decline of 0.8%.

On Thursday, the Labor Department announced the Consumer Price Index, the government's most closely watched inflation barometer, was virtually unchanged in September following a 0.1% decrease in August.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that housing starts fell 6.3% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 817,000, the lowest since January 1991. It was a much bigger decline than the 1.6% decrease that had been expected.

Applications for building permits, considered a reliable sign of future construction activity, fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 786,000 last month. That's 8.3% below the revised 857,000 rate in August. It was the lowest level for permits since November 1981.

Through the week, the markets seesawed wildly. The gains on Monday had been largely reversed as the Dow fell 76.62 on Tuesday and plummeted 733.08 on Wednesday. Then the Dow rose by 401.35 on Thursday and fell 127.04 on Friday. But, for first time in five weeks, the Dow closed the week in positive territory, up 401.03.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on the index of leading indicators on October 20 and the Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications index on October 22.