Bank woes knock stocks
Wall Street retreats after a long weekend on worries about the financial crisis. Obama's inauguration in focus.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks slipped Tuesday morning as worries about the deterioration of the British banking system preoccupied investors ahead of the historic inauguration of Barack Obama.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) all declined in the early going.
Trading could be light Tuesday as Obama is sworn into office and investors put off thinking about the troubled economy he inherits.
The new president will have to spur initiatives across the entire financial and economic landscape in his first 100 days. (Full story)
"I would expect that we have lighter than normal volume," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co. "Unfortunately, when the dust settles, there are still a lot of questions out there, and we're going to see that spelled out with about 100 of the S&P companies that are reporting [financial results] this week."
Wall Street was shaken by the British banking system, which faces a bailout by the British Treasury and possible nationalization of the Royal Bank of Scotland, according to Dave Rovelli, managing director for Canaccord Adams.
"[It's] a continuation of the banking sector getting obliterated," said Rovelli.
U.S. markets were closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day.
On Friday, the most recent day of trading, stocks managed gains.
Earnings: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500) reported quarterly earnings that beat expectations, but fell short of sales forecasts. J&J reported fourth-quarter revenue of $15.2 billion and earnings of 97 cents per share. That compared to the Thomson Reuters analysts' consensus of $15.9 billion in revenue and 92 cents per share profit.
Media: The New York Times (NYT) said Monday it was getting $250 million in financing from companies controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu. The money will be used to refinance existing debt.
Automakers: Toyota (TM) named a new president after reporting that its 2008 sales tumbled 4%.
Fiat, the Italian automaker, took a 35% stake in Chrysler through a non-cash joint venture, shoring up the U.S. automaker's future. The deal allows the battered Chrysler more access to Fiat's fuel-efficient fuel engines and transmissions.
World markets: Stocks in Asia retreated, with Japan's Nikkei losing 2.3%. European indexes were mixed. The FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt rose, while the CAC in Paris declined.
Oil and money: Oil prices fell 15 cents to $36.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The dollar rose against the euro and the British pound, but slipped versus the yen. 
