THE MAGIC POTION from the Federal Reserve has worn off, leaving the stock market right back where it started the year — earnings are bad, layoffs are increasing and investors are worried.
Without hopes of more interest rate cuts any time soon, stocks fell for a third straight day Friday, and the Nasdaq's 12% January rally disappeared in a cloud of silicon dust. Negative news stories circled two big tech names — Dell Computer (DELL) and Lucent Technologies (LU) — while analyst pessimism hit Oracle (ORCL) and Nokia (NOK). The downbeat sentiment on techs filtered quickly into the broader list.
"There's not a current catalyst to encourage the market," said A.C. Moore, chief investment strategist for Dunvegan Associates. "Meanwhile, we're going through this transitional period where a lot of negatives continue to come from companies and their earnings guidance. It's not a particularly wonderful period."
The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 91.09 points to finish at 2470.97. That leaves it up a scant 0.45 point for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 99.10 points to 10781.45, down 5.4 points since Dec. 29. In the broader market, the S&P 500 lost 17.77 to 1314.76.
Chip stocks, which got beaten up Wednesday following Cisco Systems' (CSCO) earnings disappointment, were more resilient than most other techs, but even they fell by the end of the day. Defensive sectors such as utilities, tobacco and alcoholic beverages rose, as did oil stocks. Financials regained some of their recent losses. For the week, the Nasdaq fell 7.1%. The Dow slipped a more modest 0.7%. The S&P lost 2.6%.
Without hopes of more interest rate cuts any time soon, stocks fell for a third straight day Friday, and the Nasdaq's 12% January rally disappeared in a cloud of silicon dust. Negative news stories circled two big tech names — Dell Computer (DELL) and Lucent Technologies (LU) — while analyst pessimism hit Oracle (ORCL) and Nokia (NOK). The downbeat sentiment on techs filtered quickly into the broader list.
"There's not a current catalyst to encourage the market," said A.C. Moore, chief investment strategist for Dunvegan Associates. "Meanwhile, we're going through this transitional period where a lot of negatives continue to come from companies and their earnings guidance. It's not a particularly wonderful period."
The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 91.09 points to finish at 2470.97. That leaves it up a scant 0.45 point for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 99.10 points to 10781.45, down 5.4 points since Dec. 29. In the broader market, the S&P 500 lost 17.77 to 1314.76.
Chip stocks, which got beaten up Wednesday following Cisco Systems' (CSCO) earnings disappointment, were more resilient than most other techs, but even they fell by the end of the day. Defensive sectors such as utilities, tobacco and alcoholic beverages rose, as did oil stocks. Financials regained some of their recent losses. For the week, the Nasdaq fell 7.1%. The Dow slipped a more modest 0.7%. The S&P lost 2.6%.
