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Business crime news took center stage Thursday and the stock markets slumped to a down day as the first batch of earnings failed to impress, retail sales disappointed and oil prices continued to concern investors.
The biggest business headlines of the day came from courtrooms.
Former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay pleaded not guilty to 11 charges stemming from Enron's alleged deception of investors, while Martha Stewart was denied a bid for a new trial on obstruction of justice charge relating to her sale of ImClone stock, clearing the way for her sentencing as soon as next week.
Positive earnings news from the likes of Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Alcoa, while on target with projections, failed to impress investors.
Yahoo lost more than 7 percent after meeting its second-quarter targets, and Thursday brought yet another earnings warning from a tech company, as Siebel Systems lowered guidance.
Slower Sales, Terror Worries
Also weighing on the minds of investors was news that June retail sales were up only slightly over last year at many major chains.
For instance, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) said sales expanded just over 2 percent, well below the 3.6 target analysts had expected.
Oil prices remained a concern, with crude futures hitting a five-week high despite a report showing that U.S. stockpiles grew last week.
Homeland Security Warnings
As if that weren't enough, the Department of Homeland Security warned that another terrorist attack is likely before the U.S. presidential election in November.
Secretary Tom Ridge said that both the Democratic and Republican conventions -- in Boston in July and August in New York, respectively -- could be targets and that security will be enhanced.
All told, the Dow lost 68.73 points, falling to 10,171.56 by the closing bell, with the Nasdaq off 1.5 percent, or 30.76 points, to 1,935.32 and the S&P 500 was 9.23 points lower to 1,109.10.
