Can someone explain in laymans terms this "The Dow plunged 400 points" and " The Dow closed at under 8,000 today" crap we're hearing about on the news,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average

Basically, 1 point is $1.00.  So, the "index" was down $400.00.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a index, of the 30 most widely held stocks.  They are "weighted" according to a formula.  If you were to buy the entire index (as it is weighted) it would now cost you $7997.00 at the close of the market today.  

It is used as a barometer of the overall market. Other indexes are the S&P 500, S&P 400, S&P 600, Nasdaq 100 etc.

That was a good read, thanks.  It is interesting to view todays DJIA from the perspective of history.

This is the part that todays investors need to internalize:

The crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression returned the average to its starting point, almost 90% below its peak, by July 8, 1932, at its intra-day low of 40.56; closing at 41.22. The high of 381.17 on September 3, 1929, would not be surpassed until 1954, in inflation-adjusted numbers.