Shares in Apple Inc. dropped sharply in Tuesday trading as the markets reacted negatively to a U.S. Treasury plan for a bank rescue plan. In the early afternoon trading session, AAPL was trading at US$98.07 per share, down $4.44 (-4.33%) in moderate volume.

The drop comes as the DOW dropped by almost 4%, the NASDAQ was down 3.35%, and the S&P 500 shed more than 4%. Apple's tech brethren such as Google ($362.76, down $16.01 (-4.23%)), Intel ($14.31, down $0.60 (-4.02%)), and Microsoft ($19.00, down $0.44 (-2.26%)) all shared the red ink.

What spooked the markets was a plan unveiled by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled to (further) rescue the U.S. banking system. That plan would dedicate up to a half trillion dollars to buy so-called "toxic assets." Another trillion dollars would be used to expand support for consumer and small business lending.

Wall Street reaction to this multiprong plan has been sharp and negative.

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.