The Dow Lost 60, Nasdaq Falls 19

The Dow lost 59.72 points today to close at 10,868.38, the Nasdaq fell 19.03 to close at 2,020.39 and the S&P 500 lost 8.84 points to close at 1,240.29. The Nasdaq got off to a rough start as Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) warned for Q2 EPS and revenues. Again, inflation, higher oil prices, and the Middle East conflict kept investors pinned to the sidelines as the sell-off continued. Mixed earnings reports only seemed to add to the uncertainties on Wall Street. Oil gained $0.16 to close at $74.43.

Volume was moderate with 1.92 billion shares trading on the NYSE and 2.4 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners hammered advancers by a margin of 21:11 on the NYSE and 22:08 on the Nasdaq.

In individual stories, Boston Communications Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCGI) ended up 107% today after the Company signed a definitive settlement and license agreement settling and dismissing, with prejudice, Freedom Wireless' patent litigation against BCGI and its carrier customers, including its co-defendants. Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) closed 15.75% lower after reporting Q2 EPS of $0.18, 4 cents worse than estimates.(0.22) Revenues were $1.22 billion vs. $1.25 billion consensus. In after hours, reports are circulating that the company is preparing a bid to acquire ATI Technologies (Nasdaq: ATYT).

Monday, investors will look for earnings from American Express (NYSE: AXP), BellSouth (NYSE: BLS), Merck (NYSE: MRK) & Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) before the opening bell.

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