Stocks feel earnings shock

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks fell Tuesday as investors took in lackluster results from industry bellwethers Texas Instruments and Countrywide, as well as a report that a General Motors subsidiary was having trouble borrowing money for its sale to private equity firms.

Oil fell nearly $2 after OPEC said it would pump more crude if necessary.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 88.19 to 13,855.23, Charts) slid about 0.4 percent in midday trading after sinking as much as 121 points near the opening bell. The broader S&P 500 (Charts) lost 0.5 percent, while the tech-fueled Nasdaq (Charts) sank about 0.6 percent.

Stocks rebounded Monday, with the 30-share Dow industrials jumping nearly 100 points on positive earnings news, after tumbling 150 on Friday.

Texas Instruments (Charts, Fortune 500) reported disappointing results after the market close Monday, which dragged on tech stocks. The chipmaker said weak demand contributed to lower quarterly profit and sales, sending shares down nearly 4 percent.

"There are two major things happening today. There's backlash from Texas Instruments' very minor revenue miss, although more important to investors is that they didn't lift revenue guidance for the current quarter," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist with D.A. Davidson & Co.

"The other thing is heavy fallout over Countrywide's miss and lowered guidance and discussion of problem loans. This darkens the cloud over an already troubled housing market."

Shares of Countrywide (down $2.56 to $31.50, Charts, Fortune 500), the nation's largest mortgage lender, tumbled over 7 percent as the firm said that quarterly profit fell 33 percent and it said it would slash its full-year earnings outlook.

American Express (down $2.46 to $62.20, Charts, Fortune 500) tumbled nearly 4 percent after disappointing investors with revenue numbers that it reported after Monday's market close.

There were mixed results from three Dow components Tuesday as telecom AT&T (Charts, Fortune 500) beat forecasts and fast food leader McDonald's (Charts, Fortune 500) met expectations. Chemical maker DuPont (Charts, Fortune 500) fell short of estimates, falling 4.5 percent in morning trading.

Apple (down $3.64 to $140.06, Charts, Fortune 500) stock fell 2.6 percent as the company issued a report of new iPhone subscribers that was below analyst estimates.

Citigroup (down $0.66 to $50.20, Charts, Fortune 500) fell about 2 percent as NYSE Regulation reported that it fined the broker's Smith Barney arm $50 million for improper trading practices.

Also weighing on the market: A report in the Wall Street Journal that said General Motors' (Charts, Fortune 500) Allison unit is having trouble selling debt to pay for its leveraged buyout by private equity firms, sending GM's stock down 1.1 percent.

Treasury prices eased in early trading, lifting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.97 percent from 4.95 percent late Monday.

The dollar fell against the euro and the yen.

Oil prices sank, with U.S. light crude down $1.71 to $73.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Market breadth was negative. Decliners beat advancers 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange on volume of 550,000 shares. Losers beat winners on the Nasdaq 3 to 1 on volume of 800,000 shares.

Major Asian markets finished the session lower, and European stocks dipped early on.