Index

A flurry of reports yesterday signaled worsening conditions for the nation's already distressed housing market. The supply of unsold U.S. homes ballooned to an 18-year high in August as demand for existing homes fell to a five-year low, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. The Washington-based trade group blamed the onset of the global credit crisis last month for the drop in sales. "The unusual disruptions in the mortgage market resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or canceled sales," said Lawrence Yun, the group's chief economist.

NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average surged more than 190 points to a new high yesterday, a strong sign that Wall Street thinks the worst of the global credit crunch has passed. The rally on the first day of the fourth quarter was propelled in part by news from financial giant Citigroup Inc., which said its third-quarter earnings would fall 60 percent because of a $5.9 billion write-off related to soured mortgage-backed bonds and private equity loans. Despite the huge write-off, investors greeted the news as a sign that the upheaval in global credit markets was abating and that financial companies' earnings would begin to recover, some analysts said.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks fell yesterday, after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said equity prices are at levels many people see as "well beyond the justifiable."Rising wage costs could force interest rates higher, threatening economic growth, Greenspan said at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's annual banking conference."Interest rates are not likely to go down," said R. Lynn Yturri, manager of the $1.5 billion One Group Income Equity Fund. That means stock "prices will work their way down.

NEW YORK -- Major stock indexes fell yesterday, with Intel Corp., 3Com Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. showing the way, on concern that waning demand and increased competition will hurt profit in the computer and networking industries.The Nasdaq composite index dropped 36.15, to 2,259.03. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 27.17, to 9,297.61.The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 10.66, to 1,225.50.All three market measures surrendered gains in late trading.Elsewhere on the broad market, the Russell 2,000 index, a benchmark of small-cap stocks, rose 0.04, to 394.43; the American Stock Exchange composite index advanced 0.92, to 699.21; and the S&P 400 midcap index added 2.01, to 359.82.

NEW YORK -- The Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes set records yesterday, led by computer-related shares, after analysts predicted that Microsoft Corp. and MCI WorldCom Inc. will soar in 1999 as the companies' earnings growth rates beat the average of other S&P 500 members.The S&P climbed 16.68, or 1.4 percent, to 1,244.78, and the Nasdaq jumped 43.22, or 2.0 percent, to 2,251.27.The Dow Jones industrial average rose 126.92, or 1.4 percent, to 9,311.19, after coming within 45 points of its Nov. 23 high.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks fell yesterday, with Dell Computer Corp. leading computer and semiconductor-makers lower after an analyst cut his sales estimate for the company.The report on Dell followed warnings in recent weeks that sales are slowing at Compaq Computer Corp. and Oracle Corp. International Business Machines Corp. led a slump Friday after an analyst pointed to a slowdown in its computer business.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.04, to 9,890.51; the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2.28, to 1,297.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks rose yesterday after a government report on wages and jobs eased concern that the Federal Reserve Board will raise interest rates. International Business Machines Corp. led the Dow Jones industrial average to a record on an optimistic sales forecast.The Dow average rose 84.77 to a record 11,031.59.The Nasdaq composite index, packed with computer stocks, climbed 31.34, or 1.3 percent, to 2503.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 12.95, or 1 percent, to 1,345.

Fears over mounting tensions in Kosovo, coupled with concerns over weakening corporate profits, sent the Dow Jones industrial average diving more than 200 points yesterday.The closely watched Dow was also pushed down by sellers who wanted to take profits, days after the index nearly closed above the 10,000-point mark for the first time.The Dow, which is made up of 30 big-company stocks, fell 218.68 points, or 2.21 percent, to 9,671.83. The index is down 325.79 points, or 3.3 percent, since it closed at a high of 9,997.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks rose yesterday, though they lost most of the gains in late trading as bonds retreated before today's consumer price inflation report."

NEW YORK -- The Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq composite indexes set records yesterday, led by computer-related shares, after analysts predicted that Microsoft Corp. and MCI WorldCom Inc. will soar in 1999 as the companies' earnings growth rates beat the average of other S&P 500 members.The S&P climbed 16.68, or 1.4 percent, to 1,244.78, and the Nasdaq jumped 43.22, or 2.0 percent, to 2,251.27.The Dow Jones industrial average rose 126.92, or 1.4 percent, to 9,311.19, after coming within 45 points of its Nov. 23 high.

Fixture maker moves to Columbia St. Louis-based idX Baltimore, a manufacturer of fixtures for stores and custom millwork products, signed a lease for 434,490 square feet in Columbia Gateway Commerce Center in Columbia, commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis said Tuesday. The manufacturer will be moving from two separate buildings in Odenton to 8901 Snowden River Parkway. Sears had most recently occupied the building that idX is leasing. The building's landlord, real estate investment manager RREEF, bought the industrial building and two others in the park for $125 million in 2007.

The poor Dow Jones industrial average. It's under attack again, and not just by fearful investors dumping shares and driving it toward 7,000. "Some critics say the Dow is an inherently flawed gauge of overall market activity," The New York Times reported in 1986. They're still saying it, only louder. Poorly designed, more than a century old, the Dow is less relevant than ever. For all the alarm it is causing, the diving Dow actually understates the fear in the economy and the stock market.

NEW YORK -Three months after it looked like the stock market had hit rock bottom, the Dow Jones industrial average slumped yesterday to a six-year low. The Dow skidded 89.68 points, or 1.2 percent, to 7,465.95 - sagging below its 7,552.29 mark during the market sell-off in November 2008 and raising worries that share prices overall are poised for another steep fall. The world's best-known market barometer has fallen 15 percent in the seven weeks since New Year's Day and is at its lowest since October 2002.

Comcast 4Q profit falls with write-down PHILADELPHIA : Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable TV provider, said yesterday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 32 percent, hampered by a $600 million write-down of its investment in wireless technology provider Clearwire Corp. Comcast's revenue and adjusted earnings beat Wall Street estimates, and the company raised its dividend 8 percent. However, the Philadelphia-based company showed markedly slower growth in its video, high-speed Internet and phone businesses.

NEW YORK - As if to underscore the daunting financial mess confronting President Barack Obama, a fresh plunge in banking stocks yesterday dragged the stock market to its worst loss of the new year. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled more than 300 points as it, and other major stock indexes closed at their lowest levels since Nov. 20, the day that has marked the bottom of the bear market that began more than a year ago. The sell-off, triggered by anxiety about the depth of the banking crisis and its effect on the economy, raised fear that stocks might skid below that November trough.

Signs grew that the economy could turn even weaker in 2009, as an index of December manufacturing activity sank to its lowest point in 28 years. Every corner of the sector was down, from bakeries to cigarette-makers to aluminum smelters. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said yesterday that its manufacturing index fell to 32.4 in December, a greater-than-expected decline from November's reading of 36.2. Even so, Wall Street brushed aside the report and started the new year with a big rally yesterday, sending the Dow Jones industrials up more than 250 points and to its first close above 9,000 in two months.

The stock market closed out 2008 yesterday, finishing a year with the worst performance since the Great Depression after weary investors faced a deep recession, the fallout of the subprime mortgage mess and some of the most volatile trading days in history. But despite the huge sell-off and investor confidence hitting rock bottom, some market analysts predict that the worst might be over. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 33.84 percent, its third-largest decline ever and the biggest decrease since 1931.

Pending home sales down slightly in October WASHINGTON: Pending U.S. home sales fell slightly in October, despite a spate of bad economic news and turmoil in the stock markets, the National Association of Realtors reported yesterday. The group's seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell 0.7 percent from September to a reading of 88.9, beating economists' average estimate of 86.5, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. The index was 1 percent below October a year ago. Home sales have rebounded in recent months in large part because deeply discounted foreclosures and distressed sales account for up to 40 percent of all transactions, according to the Realtors group.

Largest U.S. producer of chicken files Ch. 11 MILWAUKEE : Pilgrim's Pride Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, hurt like other meat producers by volatile feed prices and slumping demand but also hobbled by an unmanageable debt load. The Pittsburg, Texas-based company, the nation's largest chicken producer, sought protection in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, saying that as of Sept. 27 it had $3.75 billion in assets and $2.72 billion in debts.

The government's plan to bail out Citigroup sent Wall Street soaring yesterday for the second straight session as investors hoped that the worst of the financial industry's problems might finally be over. The Dow Jones industrials surged nearly 400 points, and all the major indexes jumped more than 4.5 percent. The rally gave the market its first two-day advance in three weeks and the Dow its biggest two-day percentage gain since October 1987, the month of the Black Monday crash. The Dow's 891-point climb over the two sessions also wiped out the 872-point plunge it suffered Wednesday and Thursday, when investors were anguished over the fate of Citigroup Inc. and financial companies in general, and the future of the nation's automakers.