INSTANT VIEW: Stock market plunges in late-day selloff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks plunged for a seventh straight session on Thursday, with the Dow sliding below 9,000 for the first time in more than five years, as investors worried recent moves by authorities worldwide to thaw frozen credit markets might not be enough to avert a global recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average sank 668.40 points, or 7.22 percent, to end unofficially at 8,589.70, based on the latest available data. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index tumbled 74.58 points, or 7.57 percent, to finish unofficially at 910.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index plummeted 95.21 points, or 5.47 percent, to close unofficially at 1,645.12.

The following are comments on the market decline:

COMMENTS:

SASHA KOSTADINOV, A SMALL-CAP FUND MANAGER AND RESEARCH ANALYST FOR SHAKER INVESTMENTS, WHICH MANAGES $100 MILLION IN CLEVELAND, OHIO

"It's absolute carnage. Yesterday, more than 5,000 stocks traded at new lows. It looks like we're going to beat that one today.

"There are companies that have reported good results, nice growth and they get sold, too. The market is in a phase now that it doesn't believe in anything. You throw on the gasoline that people have lost faith in our government institutions and that's created a whole level of fear. Frankly, I don't know .. I think we're kind of operating without a net here. I don't know what will turn the sentiment.

"This is just unbelievable.

"There are plenty of opportunities here if you had cash. (But) frankly, I would tell (anyone with cash) to hold onto it for now. Start putting together a list.

"I've never seen trading like this. Never. Even with the Internet crash, which decimated technology, you had someplace you could relatively hide. There's not a place to hide now."

AL MEYERS, CO-PORTFOLIO MANAGER, AHA DIVERSIFIED EQUITY FUND, GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN, HAS BEEN MANAGING MONEY 30 YEARS

"To tell you the absolute truth, I've been writing letters today to my clients. We're saying don't panic.

"How much are off here? Holy shit -- maybe we better panic."

"This is the most difficult environment that I have ever seen.

"Near term, I had hoped that the coordinated rate cuts would have given us some strength, and they didn't. The next hope -- God, I hate that word 'hope' -- is that as earnings announcements come out in the next several weeks, that there will be some positive surprises in there and investors start to differentiate between companies.

"The world isn't going away. Financial markets aren't going away. My hope is people start looking at these numbers and get a little bit of reality setting in. Right now we've got panic going on, there's no two ways about it.