Stocks Slide on Corporate Earnings, Writedowns

Stocks tumbled today, as the major indexes opened lower and fell through the session. Massive corporate writedowns and disappointing retail numbers led to selling across the board today, as investors continue to reel from subprime, housing and economic worries.

Citigroup (C | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) fell 6.3% in morning trading after posting the company's largest loss in history (full story).

Foot Locker (FL | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) plummeted 12.7% after being downgraded from Neutral to Sell at Goldman Sachs (full story).

State Street (STT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) sank 5.9% after reporting a substantial drop in profit stemming from a $279 million charge (full story).

Merrill Lynch (MER | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) dropped 5.2% after announcing raising $6.6. billion from mostly Asian investors (full story).

Gold hit fresh record highs today on recession worries and dollar weakness. Oil prices fell over 2% on speculation that economic weakness will hurt energy demand.

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