Markets ended the week on Friday with a significant fall from grace. The NASDAQ dropped 3.11 percent (70.03 points) to lead the way down. The S&P 500 (2.88 percent, 31.60 points), and the Dow Jones (2.52 percent, 261.41 points) also finished with large losses on the day.

After stumbling to close the week Wall Street was expected to jump during the morning today. Unfortunately, those short gains quickly turned into a market-wide flat line. All three major American indexes were down by 11 a.m. Bloomberg News blamed the fluctuation on declines by corporate financial firms and commodity producers.

In other news, despite a weak market for durable goods, Boeing seems poised to close a multi-billion dollar sale of its 777 passenger jet this week. According to sources with Reuters, the U.S. firm expects to sell at least 20 planes to Emirates Airlines. The deal is expected to be worth more than $7.5 billion.

Emirates Airlines is the world’s largest operator of 777s with 86 aircraft already in its fleet. Unfortunately, it is also a major operator of Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft as well. Securing this contract is certainly a good thing for the struggling American industrial titan, but it does not solve the problem of weak demand. Boeing will need several more windfalls such as this to right its ship and guarantee financial stability.

Back in the United States homebuilders are worried that the expiring government tax credit for new homebuyers will depress their industry once again. According to Bloomberg confidence among homebuilders is at its lowest point since April 2009.

Rounding out the news, according to CNNMoney.com, President Obama is urging the Senate to get off its hands and act on extending jobless benefits as soon as possible.

Republicans in the Senate, aided by a single Democratic defection, have successfully blocked the benefit extension for several weeks. This means hundreds of thousands of American jobseekers are now both out of work and out of money. Republican strategies since the 2008 election have been to use the suffering of the American people as a means of retaking political power in this country, but few expected them to actually offer American workers and voters up for the slaughter.

Extending jobless benefits for hardworking Americans who have fallen on tough times will cost the government $34 billion, but Republicans are absolutely resolute in their opposition. At the same time, they are calling the president “weak on national security” for “dithering” in Afghanistan and only doubling our troop presence there. The estimated cost of our occupation of Afghanistan in 2011 alone is expected to top $100 billion.

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