China's trade surplus narrowed in September renewing concerns of a prolonged global economic downturn. The markets opened lower with the Dow dropping 83 points to 11,435 while Nasdaq slipped 2 points to 2601.
On the upside
Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR) reported preliminary third quarter revenue that more than doubled from last year.
Akamai Technologies (Nasdaq: AKAM) entered a strategic alliance with Evidon to offer Evidon's privacy and compliance InForm assurance service.
Safeway (NYSE: SWY) reported higher third quarter earnings that topped analyst expectations.
On the downside
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) disappointed with lower third quarter earnings and announced the elimination of 1,000 jobs.
USA Technologies (Nasdaq: USAT) suspended George Jensen as chief executive while the audit committee investigates postings made on an Internet message board.
BB&T Capital initiated coverage of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) with a Buy rating but the stock price dropped.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 8 points to 691.
