Debt is a done deal, but peace truce already fades

With scant time to spare, President Barack Obama signed legislation Tuesday to avoid an unprecedented national default that he said would have devastated the U.S. economy. But the truce with Republicans that defused the crisis seemed to be fading already.

Wall Street crumpled, dismayed by reports of new economic weakness and unimpressed by Congress' prescription. The Dow Jones industrial average sank by 266 points, its eighth straight losing session, and biggest.