Stocks End Their Record Run

From Staff Reports

The rally is over.

At least for now.

After five straight gains, and four consecutive days of record closing highs, stocks took a beating and fell yesterday because of housing worries and fears the sub prime crisis could spread.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) dropped more than 53 points, or nearly 0.4%, to close at 13,918.22 – just one day after it hit an intraday record high above the 14,000 level.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX)  fell 3.20 points, or 0.2%, to close at 1,546.17.

Disappointing results from several high-tech bellwethers didn’t help. Shares of Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC)  and Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) each fell nearly 5% after their quarterly earnings reports fell short of analyst expectations.

The mood was dour at the open yesterday because of a late-Tuesday revelation by investment banker Bear Stearns Cos. that two hedge funds that had bet heavily on subprime debt trends were essentially worthless – spawning fears of a widespread fallout from the risky loans.

Then Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke caused further investor worry by saying the housing market still had a ways to fall before any recovery could begin.

Investors are also potentially starting to worry about some of the other issues facing the U.S. financial markets.