Wretched start on Wall Street
GE's weak results highlight market's concerns about corporate profits.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tumbled Friday morning as General Electric's lower quarterly earnings added to the realization that corporate profits are a lot weaker than had been anticipated.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 176 points, or 2% in the early going. The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index lost 15 points or 1.8%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 21 points or 1.4%.
The decline follows a market plunge on Thursday.
Art Hogan, chief market strategist for Jefferies & Co., said that more than a third of the 150 companies that have reported fourth-quarter earnings have missed expectations, which is much higher than normal, and preventing many companies from offering guidance for 2009.
"We just went through a disastrous fourth quarter across the board," said Hogan, who expects more bad news from the hundreds of companies that report next week.
"We underestimated how bad the fourth quarter was, plain and simple," he said.
Tim Crimmins, senior equity trader for Lord Abbett, said the "choppiness and volatility" in the markets could continue through the first quarter, with lots of down days, punctuated by the occasional rally, like the one on Wednesday.
"I think it'll last until at least through earnings season, and we have to go through another earnings season before we get some clarity," said Crimmins.
GE: Investors are focusing their attention on GE (GE, Fortune 500), which missed expectations on its quarterly results.
The company reported fourth-quarter earnings of 36 cents per share attributable to common shareholders, down from 68 cents a year ago, and revenue of $46.2 billion.
Analysts were expecting GE to post earnings of 37 cents per share and revenue of $50 billion, according to a consensus of opinion compiled by Thomson Reuters. Shares fell 4% at the open.
Techs: Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) reported late Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income tumbled 68% to $382 million. However, excluding certain charges, the company earned $5.10 a share, better than consensus estimates of $4.95 per share. Shares were little changed in morning trading.
Drugmakers: Stocks to watch include Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500) and Wyeth (WYE, Fortune 500). The Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer is in talks to acquire the rival drugmaker in a deal that could be worth more than $60 billion.
International markets: Asian markets closed lower and European markets were down in the afternoon.
Oil and money: Oil prices slipped $2.13 to $41.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The dollar dipped against the yen, but rose versus the euro and the British pound. 
