Stocks continued their downward march today, with the Dow off 139.41 points by midmorning, up from a 228.75-point dive at the opening bell. Seeming to shrug off yesterday’s huge emergency rate cut from the Fed, investors are acting on fears of recession, and focusing on disappointing earnings from Apple and Motorola. The S&P and Nasdaq were down 17.10 and 41.89 points respectively, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Apple reported it would miss its first quarter numbers, earning 94 cents a share rather than the $1.09 forecast. Motorola reported an 84% drop in fourth-quarter results and tough challenges ahead. Overseas, markets were mixed, with most Asian markets rebounding; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 10.7%. But markets in the UK, France and Germany were sinking. (More stock market stories.)