Investors have grown numb to a stock market that knows no direction but down. Tuesday was another discouraging day as the market was unable to muster a bounce following Monday's drop to a new 12-year low.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average failed to hold onto a midafternoon rally and ended the session down 37.27 points at 6726.02, its fifth day of declines. The Dow has dropped 11 out of the past 13 trading days, and over that period has fallen 15.3%.

Investors like Linda Pace have stopped watching. Ms. Pace says she hasn't looked at her investment portfolio since September, when markets began their rapid descent.

"I'm afraid I'll just burst into tears," says Ms. Pace, a 55-year-old in Pine Mountain, Ga., who had invested some of her savings and an inheritance from her mother. "I used to pay more attention to it but I'm so horrified by what's going on. I haven't got a clue what I've got right now."

Gina Balcom, a once-avid follower of financial markets, also isn't hearing any of it. The 34-year-old resident of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., says she has stopped watching financial news on television and hasn't looked at her 401(k) statements except to prepare her tax filing.