Wall Street plunged on Monday as it was confirmed by the National Bureau of Economic Research that the United States economy entered into a recession in December of 2007. The current recession is already the third-longest since the Great Depression and many expect a prolonged downturn. The Dow plunged 680 points or 7.70% to 8,149.09. The NASDAQ lost 8.95% to 1,398.07, while the S&P 500 dropped 80 points, or 8.93% to close at 816.21. Crude for January delivery fell more than 9%, or $5.15, to settle at $49.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. There was a massive flight to safety, with the yield on the 10 year treasury plummeting almost 24 basis points to 2.719%.

Morning Outlook

Overnight, Asian markets sold off sharply as the world’s largest economy is in a deepening recession. The MSCI Asia Pacific index dropped 4.2%; Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average tumbled 533.53 points, or 6.4%. In Europe, markets were calmer; the FTSE 100 index was even at 4,065.68 while the Germany’s DAX advanced 1.2%.

The street looks to rebound with futures advancing. The Dow is up 124 points, or 1.5% to 8,263 The S&P 500, which lost 8.93% Monday, was up 14.10 points, or 1.7% at 829.90. The news yesterday gave investors a reason to sell and take profits after last weeks rally, while the shorts had an excuse to pile in.

On the Corporate Front

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) will cut a total of 9,200 jobs at Washington Mutual, which it acquired Sept. 25 after Washington Mutual became the nation’s largest bank to fail amid the ongoing credit crisis.

Sears reported a 3rd quarter loss of $146 million, or $1.16 per share, compared with year-ago profit of $4 million, or 3 cents per share. Revenue dropped 8% to $10.66 billion from $11.62 billion; analysts had expected a loss of only of 49 cents per share with higher revenue of $10.93 billion.

Staples (SPLS) reported third-quarter profit dropped 43 percent, earning $156.7 million, or 22 cents per share, in the three months ended Nov. 1. That’s down from $274.5 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago.

Economic Calendar

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ICSC-Goldman Store Sales: Weekly measure of comparable store sales at major retail chains, published by the International Council of Shopping Centers. The figure accounts for roughly 10% of total retail sales.