Wall Street falls sharply on employment worries, bleak corporate outlooks

Madlen Read and Sara Lepro
Associated Press
January 7, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) — Bleak outlooks from Time Warner, Intel and Alcoa combined with more evidence of rising unemployment sent stocks sharply lower Wednesday, sending major indexes down more than 2 percent including the Dow Jones industrials, which lost more than 225 points.

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Unlike the panicked swings seen last fall, however, the declines were far more oderly, and some retrenchment had been expected following sharp rises in the final days of 2008 and into 2009.

Wall Street has been absorbing poor economic and corporate news far better since last November as some have dared to hope for a recovery in the second half of this year or early 2010, but the latest round of unnerving news proved to be too much to set aside.

Media industry bellwether Time Warner Inc. said Wednesday it would take a $25 billion impairment charge in the fourth quarter for its cable, publishing and AOL units, while Intel Corp. said it now expects fourth-quarter revenue to drop 23 percent, below prior estimates, on a further weakening in demand from computer makers.

Alcoa Inc. had jolted investors late Tuesday with an announcement that it would slash its annual output by more than 18 percent and cut its global work force by 13 percent.

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This article was posted: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 3:40 pm

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