September Dow ends on negative

This week, the Federal Reserve will meet and make a statement about interest rates and inflation. \n"This meeting is going to be pretty boring," Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo & Co., told msnbc.com. "They likely will put more emphasis on inflation, especially because of the price of oil going up significantly." \nNormally, the market is quite interested in anything the Fed does, but investors believe the upcoming meeting is a nonevent. The Fed has increased interest rates six times in the past year, but has left rates untouched since May, according to MSNBC. \nInvestors appear to be more interested in the health of third-quarter earnings. Earnings are expected to be strong for most large companies, but a small number of companies released warnings in the past weeks. These warnings caused investors to fear the rapid growth and believe that spending might be coming to an end.\nSeptember ends poorly for Dow, Nasdaq\nSeptember ended on a negative note as the markets closed sharply. Friday, the Dow was down 173.14 to close at 10650.92. Overall for the month, the Dow ended down 5 percent. In September 1999, the Dow gained 6.6 percent. The Nasdaq also experienced heavy selling, closing at 3672.82, down 105.5. The Nasdaq suffered greater losses than the Dow this month, losing 12.7 percent. Last year, the Nasdaq gained 11.7 percent in September.\nStock News\nLast week, Apple Computer and Eastman Kodak both warned investors they would fall short of earnings expectations. Kodak, a Dow component, announced its earnings would be 20 to 25 cents below forecast, Sept. 25. The top U.S. photo film maker blamed the problem on weak sales. According to Reuters, Kodak is struggling to redefine itself in a digital age. Thursday, Apple Computer announced it would fail to meet earnings as well. The next day, Apple's stock was down 52 percent. Apple is blaming its problems on slower-than-expected sales and a sell-off in computer related issues, according to Reuters. Other companies announcing they will miss earnings included Caterpillar and Priceline.com. \nFinal notes\nOil prices declined last week and the euro seemed to stabilize, but warnings from companies seemed to drown out the bullish news. The market might have to wait for positive news to come from companies, who will begin releasing earnings in the middle of the month. Investors will be anxious to hear companies forward earnings guidance. If companies project a decline in revenues, investors might start to fear an economic slowdown.