Stocks Continue to Decline

Stocks fell again on Friday, after another disappointing economic report and a rather gloomy outlook from J.C. Penney.

The Dow lost -86.06 , the Nasdaq Composite rose -19.65, and the S&P 500 -10.54.

J.C. Penney
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lowered its first quarter sales and earnings outlook, citing weakness in consumer spending. JCP shares lost 7.5% and weighed on other consumer stocks.

KB Home
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lost 4.9% after the company reported earnings that missed estimates by a wide margin.

The $19.5 billion deal for Clear Channel
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edged closer to collapse. The company and its buyers are trying to prevent the banks from moving a lawsuit over the proposed sale out of Texas.

Bloomberg reported he U.S. dollar recorded its biggest weekly drop against the euro in more than 2-years.

Market Snapshot

Dow

-86.06 12216.40

NASDAQ

-19.65 2261.18

S&P 500

-10.54 1315.22

Economic
News

Personal Income (Feb): Actual 0.5%, Consensus 0.3%

Personal Spending (Feb): Actual 0.1%, Consensus 0.1%

Mich Sentiment (Mar): Actual 69.5, Consensus 70.0