Wall Street is back in freak-out mode today: Stocks are plummeting, led by financial issues, and money is rushing into the haven of Treasury securities.

With about 90 minutes to go in the trading day, anything can (and probably will) happen. Stocks also were down sharply at midday on Tuesday, only to rebound.

But the market is in worse shape today than it was on Tuesday. Many major stock indexes are at new bear-market lows. People are giving up — again.

“The market isn’t trading on the fundamentals or on technicals. It’s fear-based,” said Joe Saluzzi, a partner at Themis Trading in Chatham, N.J.

Fear of what? All the usual suspects: the economy, the financial system, the potential bankruptcy of major automakers, a massive wave of bond defaults, etc.

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Tags: dow joned, henry paulson, stock market, us economy, Wall Street, wall street bailout, wall street woes