Stocks Fall On Retail Sales, Higher Oil

Stocks fell on Wednesday after
oil rebounded.

Early on, traders balanced a weak retail
sales report with good earnings from Lehman Brothers, but later in the session
the indices slid, closing near the lows.

August retail sales fell 2.1% in August–the
biggest drop in almost four years. Lehman Brothers
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beat by 0.59
and beat on revenues. Profit rose 74% on higher M&A profits and increased debt
origination. Crude inventories fell by 6.6 million barrels, sending prices
higher. Crude oil rose 3% to close at $65.05.

Delta Airlines
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and Northwest
Airlines

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may file for bankruptcy as early as today, The New
York Times
reports.

Baidu.com
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fell over $32 on two
brokerage firms’ initial coverage. Goldman Sachs and Piper Jaffray both
initiated coverage of BIDU with underperform ratings. . Goldman analyst Anthony
Noto values the stock at $27.

ETrade
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reported daily average
trades (DARTs) rose 37% last from the same period a year ago.



Strong Sectors
were:  Gold 
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+3.92%    
Oil Services 

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+1.33%
  



Weak sectors
were:
 
 Internet
 
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-1.60%     Retail 

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-1.25%    


Dow

-52.54
10,544.90


Nasdaq

-22.42 2149.33


S&P 500

-4.04
1227.16

Stocks in the news:

Amerisourcebergen
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was upgraded
to Buy at UBS, with at $92 price target.

Google
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will begin its shelf
offering share sale after the market close today, Bloomberg reports. The company
said it expects to net $4.11 billion from the 14.16 million Class A shares.

Genentech
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said a Phase II study
showed Herceptin with chemotherapy improved survival rates in women with early
stage breast cancer.

OSI Pharmaceuticals
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said an
FDA panel will recommend Tarceva for approval.

Abbot Lab’s
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CEO Miles White
offered an upbeat forecast for 2007 and reaffirmed $0.56 – $0.58 for Q3 and
$2.47 – $2.53 for 2005 full-year earnings.

Teva Pharmaceuticals
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received FDA approval for Leflunomide
tablets for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Brice Wightman