The Dow Lost 119 Points, Nasdaq Falls 32

The Dow lost 119.21 points today to close at 12,502.56, the Nasdaq fell 32.04 points to close at 2,434.24, and the S&P 500 dropped 16.23 points to close at 1,423.90. Stocks slid as investors decided to take some profits. Market news was mixed as several companies from the S&P 500 reported earnings today. Oil fell $1.14 to close at $54.23.

Volume was heavy with 3.21 billion shares trading on the NYSE and 2.28 billion trading on the Nasdaq.
Decliners crushed Advancers by a margin of 25:8 on the NYSE and 21:9 on the Nasdaq.

In Individual stories, 21st Century Insurance Group (NYSE: TW) gained 26.2% after AIG (NYSE: AIG) offered to acquire the remaining shares of 21st Century Insurance Group for $19.75 per share in cash.
Plexus (Nasdaq: PLXS) fell 14.3% after reporting Q4 EPS of $0.32, 1 cent worse than estimates.(0.33) Revenues were $381 million vs. $390.40 million consensus. Sees Q2 EPS of $0.15-$0.19, versus the consensus of $0.35. Sees Q2 revenues of $345-$355 million versus the consensus of $403.14 million. Plexus revised its full fiscal year revenue growth target to 8% to 12% over fiscal 2006.

Tomorrow morning, investors will be looking for earnings from Air Tran Holdings (NYSE: AAI), Carpenter Technologies (NYSE: CRS), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO),
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), Honeywell (NYSE: HON) and T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq: TROW).

Traders will also be looking for economic data on December New Home Sales and Durable Goods Orders.

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