The New York Times - On Wednesday, July 9, the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500-stock index fell 29.01 points, or 2.3 percent, entering its first official bear market since 2002. The Dow Jones industrials finished down 236.77 points, or 2.1 percent. Adding to the pain was a $5 surge in the price of oil, which reached another record in overnight trading, touching $147 a barrel, on concern over recent tensions in the Middle East. Oil later pulled back and settled at $145.08, up $3.43.