Stocks fall a third day; new home sales down
By Tim Paradis
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — NEW YORK — Signs of a weaker housing market and a gloomier outlook on the economy gave investors more reasons to dump stocks.
Major market indexes fell by the largest amount in about a month yesterday after the Commerce Department said new home sales dropped for the first time in five months. Sales slid 3.6 percent in September to 402,000. Analysts had expected an increase.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 119 points, or 1.2 percent, in its third straight triple-digit drop.