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Stocks dive after violence Mideast attacks, earnings warning hammer market By James Bernstein Newsday The winds of war in the Mideast roiled Wall Street Thursday, sending both Old and New Economy stocks to their lowest levels in six months as investors worried about rising oil prices and their impact on an already slowing U.S. economy. Thursday�s nearly 380-point, 3.7 percent decline in the Dow Jones industrial average reminded investors that October is often a harrowing month for the market. On Oct. 19, 1987, the Dow fell 508 points, or 22.6 percent. And the Depression began with a 12.8 percent decline on Oct. 28, 1929. More recently, on Oct. 27, 1997, the Dow lost 554 points, or 7.2 percent. A wearying day on Wall Street began when Home Depot, the world�s biggest seller of home-improvement products, issued an earnings warning, saying its third quarter and year-end results would not be as good as analysts expected. Investors hadn�t finished punishing the giant retailer when they began hearing of a terrorist attack on a Navy ship in Yemen and an Israeli helicopter raid on a Palestinian military compound, launched after the killing of Israeli soldiers by a Palestinian mob. Those events caused the price of crude oil to skyrocket. Unlike many sessions recently, in which technology shares have borne the brunt of selling, the biggest sell-off Thursday came in the blue-chip Dow, which fell 379.21 points, to 10,034.58. That was the Dow�s largest loss since April 14, when it tumbled 617 points to 10,305.77, and it was the index�s fifth-largest one-day point loss ever. Thursday�s decline was led by Home Depot and J.P. Morgan. Only seven of the Dow�s 30 stocks rose. One of the biggest winners was Exxon Mobil Corp. The technology-heavy Nasdaq index fell for a sixth straight session, dropping 93.81 points, or 3 percent, to 3,074.68, its lowest close this year. The Nasdaq is down 24 percent since Jan. 1 and 39 percent from its March 10 record. The broader Standard & Poor�s 500 fell 34.81, or 2.6 percent, to 1,329.78, its largest decline since April 14. "We�re in a very nervous market now," said Barry Hyman, chief investment strategist at Weatherly Securities in Manhattan. "What happens if there�s a Mideast war? The reaction of the Arab world would be important. If Iraq threatens to take oil off the market, oil becomes $50 a barrel." But some on Wall Street argued that the earnings warning from Home Depot � only the latest red flag from a major U.S. company about future prospects � had more impact on the market than did the Middle East crises. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.