U.S. Stocks Fall on Concern Fed Is Running Out of Ammunition

Elizabeth Stanton and Whitney Kisling
Bloomberg
December 18, 2008

U.S. stocks fell and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated from a five-week high on concern the Federal Reserve has few tools left to combat the recession after cutting its benchmark interest rate to a record low.

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Newell Rubbermaid Inc., the maker of Calphalon cookware, tumbled the most in at least 28 years as the shrinking economy forced it to reduce its 2008 profit forecast. Apple Inc. slid 6.6 percent after the maker of the iPhone said Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs won’t speak at the Macworld Expo, spurring concern the leader’s health is deteriorating. Macy’s Inc. rallied 18 percent, helping trim the market’s losses, after lenders relaxed terms on a $2 billion credit line.

“The economic environment isn’t going to change a lot,” said Warren Koontz, who oversees $2.5 billion as chief investment officer for large-company value stocks at Loomis Sayles & Co. in Boston. Loomis manages $105 billion. “We do have to pay penance for the over-living of the past decade.”

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