Stocks' wild ride: 8 days to remember

On what was the year's worst day on Wall Street before the credit crisis hit, market investors sold off as crude oil prices soared.

Oil jumped $10.75 that Friday to $138.54, rising $16 in two sessions. Crude oil prices skyrocketed in response to a Morgan Stanley analyst's note that said oil could hit $150 a barrel by July 4. It nearly did, peaking at $147.27 on July 11.

The spike exacerbated worries about consumer spending, already stretched as gas prices neared a national average of $4 a gallon. As a result, demand for fuel plummeted and oil and gas prices came tumbling down in the late summer.

Stocks also dropped on a Labor Department report that showed that the unemployment rate shot up to 5.5% from 5%. It was the biggest one-month surge in that measure in more than 20 years.

The report suggested to investors that the economy could be in a recession, despite the more than $100 billion in government stimulus checks sent to millions of tax filers throughout the spring.

NEXT: Oct. 13 - Biggest gain ever stops 2,400-point slide