That seemed to be investors' complaint to U.S. companies today, as they pummeled the shares of companies that reported less-than-spectacular profits or projections.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 25.34 to close at 6,036.46, having pared a loss of more than 60 points. Decliners led advancers by a 6-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,081 up, 1,286 down and 886 unchanged. NYSE volume was 439.64 million shares, vs. 410.68 million yesterday.
Broad stock indexes were mixed. The NYSE composite fell 0.31 to 375.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 composite rose 0.70 to 707.27. The American Stock Ex
change index lost 2.56 to 570.73. The Nasdaq composite fell 6.38 to 1,226.38.
Stocks and bonds improved around 2 p.m. EDT after reports that the U.S. Treasury had successfully auctioned $12.5 billion of five-year notes.
The long Treasury bond, which had languished all session, was up 5/16 point, yielding 6.83 percent, late in the session.
Investors dumped a wide selection of mostly blue-chip equities in response to earnings reports, which analysts said have not been strong enough to justify the stock market's lofty valuations. Even where earnings may be better than a year ago, comparisons with the previous second quarter and projections for the fourth quarter, were less encouraging, they said.
"Companies are having problems with their earnings momentum quarter-by-quarter," said Brian Belski, managing director at Dain Bosworth Inc. in Minneapolis.