Wall Street has slumped for the second day in a row. Stocks extended their decline after the government confirmed that the last quarter of 2007 did indeed see a sharp economic slowdown.
Stocks fell Thursday after a reading on the economy confirmed a slowdown in the final quarter of 2007 and a weak quarterly showing from Oracle Corp. posted weak results.
Oracle, the maker of business software, posted fiscal third-quarter sales that fell short of Wall Street's expectations and issued a cautious forecast. Oracle fell $1.45, or 6.9 percent, to $19.49.
Oil futures shot back above $107 a barrel Thursday after the bombing of an Iraqi oil pipeline diverted investors' attention away from a stabilizing U.S. dollar. Despite Thursday's strength, analysts expect the dollar to soon resume its decline against foreign currencies. The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates several more times this year, and lower rates tend to weaken the dollar."I think crude oil is easily going to be testing $120 (in coming weeks)," Cordier said. Crude futures rose to a trading record of $111.80 early last week before retreating
Like the financial sector, homebuilders have caused much uncertainty among investors. But stocks in the sector advanced Thursday after a better-than-expected snapshot of the business. Lennar Corp. said it swung to a loss in the first quarter as it faced charges to write down asset values. However, the company's results stripping out certain items came in better than Wall Street had forecast and helped boost shares of homebuilders
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