Stocks Fall, Dollar Continues to Sink

Stocks declined on Friday, with financial stocks struggling once again. The
recent credit market woes, coupled with the slumping housing market continue to
put pressure on the financials.

In deal news,  3Com
(
COMS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
agreed to be acquired by Bain
Capital for about $2.2 billion.

Alcatel-Lucent
(
ALU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is rising on reports that Patricia Russo, the
company CEO, is under pressure to present a restructuring plan.

The U.S. dollar sunk to a fresh record low versus the euro (read
more
). Commodities continue to benefit from the dollar decline, with a
number at or near record levels.

Crude oil climbed to a new record high, above $83 per barrel and Gold is
trading at its highest level since 1980.



Stocks in the News

CKX
(
CKXE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Agrees to Revised Buyout Offer from 19X (read
more
).

Par Pharmaceutical
(
PRX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Guides FY07 Below Consensus,
Expands Share Buyback (read
more
).

For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.


Market Snapshot

Dow

-17.31 13895.63

NASDAQ

-8.09 2701.50

S&P 500

-4.63 1526.75

NYSE NASDAQ

Volume

1,339,206,250 1,878,855,602

Up Volume

517,116,800 862,870,426

Down Volume

803,843,050 975,117,506

Advances

1455 1187

Declines

1841 1781

New Highs

179 114

New Lows

41 72


Strongest/Weakest Industry Groups

Strongest Industries

Weakest Industries

Basic Materials
Wholesale
Toy &
Hobby Stores

Nonmetallic Mineral Mining

Manufactured Housing
Gold
Printed Circuit Boards





Economic
News

Personal Income (Aug): Actual
0.3%, Consensus 0.4%

Personal Spending (Aug): Actual 0.6%, Consensus 0.4%

Construction Spending (Aug): Actual 0.2%, Consensus -0.2%