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Investors felt the pain of one of the biggest sell-offs this year - sending stocks down for the fourth month in a row. Blue chips lost 315 points. The S&P 500 tumbled 37. And the Nasdaq fell back into bear market territory. For the week: The Dow was down just under a percent. The Nasdaq down about 1.4 percent. Another dose of discouraging economic news sparked the exodus. And the selling pressure was so intense at the New York Stock Exchange that for every stock that moved higher more than 6 moved lower. A regional manufacturing survey showed a sharp contraction in February. And consumer sentiment tumbled to a 16 year low. Both reports kept recession fears at the were the latest signs the economy may be on the edge of recession. Investors snapped up bonds as a result. The 10-year note was up more than a point. The 30-year bond was up a point and a half. American International Group was the biggest drag on the Dow.. The insurance giant posted a $5.29 billion quarterly loss thanks to sour investments. AIG was down 6-1/2 percent. Financial shares, like Citigroup, tumbled on fear there will be billions of more dollars in write-downs. And concerns of a slowdown in consumer spending hit shares of American Express. Amex was down 4.7 percent. Citigroup lost over 5 percent. And Bank of America lost 4 percent. Dell was under the knife one day after posting disappointing sales and profits. The stock was down 4.6 percent on the day. Crude oil prices hit an intra-day high above $103, but the gains could not hold after Turkey began to pull out of Northern Iraq. Crude oil finished below $102. The dollar finished above its lows, but the American currency had its worst week in more than 2 years. It was a rough day for European investors as well. The German Dax tumbled roughly 1.7 percent. The Paris CAC-40 was down 1-1/2 percent. And the London was lost about 1-1/3 percent. Conway Gittens, Reuters