Tuesday

Stocks registered a third consecutive day of losses after manufacturing data combined with worries about Europe's debt-laden countries continued to weigh on investor sentiment. On the economic front, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond said manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region is contracting this month after seven months of expansion. The service sector also slowed, but remained in expansion. Worries about Europe still lingered today. Moody's Investors Services warned that a Greek debt restructuring could affect the credit ratings of other European governments and could lead to rating downgrades for Greek banks. DJIA -25.05 Nasdaq -12.74 S&P 500 -1.09.

Monday

U.S. stocks plummeted as investors' concerns over the financial health of European governments triggered a flight to safer assets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.1%, with all but one component, McDonald's, in the red. Technology and energy stocks led the Standard & Poor's to slump 1.2%. The technology-oriented Nasdaq lost 1.6%. In the absence of major U.S. earnings reports or economic data, investors focused on negative headlines from Europe, including a Standard & Poor's outlook cut on Italian debt and regional election losses for Spain's ruling Socialist party. DJIA -130.78 Nasdaq -44.42 S&P 500 -15.90.

Wednesday

Stocks snapped a three-day losing streak today as the Federal Reserve's minutes showed central-bank officials are in no hurry to tighten monetary policy even as they held detailed exit-strategy talks. Federal Reserve officials appeared to agree that letting the central bank's balance sheet slowly shrink was likely to be the first step toward tightening monetary policy. Nevertheless, they aren't ready to start executing the plan until they are sure the economy can bear it. Caterpillar, Chevron and Exxon Mobil helped power the Dow Jones Industrial Average up .7%. The Standard & Poor's rise was led by the materials and energy sectors. DJIA +80.60 Nasdaq +31.79 S&P 500 +11.70.

Tuesday

Markets turned lower as investors, spooked by weak U.S. economic data, ditched assets that have value tied to a robust recovery. The drops were touched off by data that showed a slowdown in the auto industry caused U.S. manufacturing production to fall in April for the first time in 10 months. Overall industrial production was flat, with the weak manufacturing sector canceling out gains in mining and utilities production. Tomorrow, the Fed will release minutes from its latest policy-making meeting, which is renewing the market's focus on the end of the central bank's program to spur the recovery. DJIA -68.79 Nasdaq +.90 S&P 500 -.49.

Monday

The technology sector and consumer-discretionary sectors led stocks lower as weak economic data spurred worries of a softening economy and Europe's debt crisis weighed on investor sentiment. Investors said a New York-area manufacturing survey that was well below expectations underscored the uneven state of the economy, while a weak housing index showed continued stress in that market. Technology and consumer-discretionary shares are often among the first to be hit when consumers and businesses tighten their belts. DJIA -47.38 Nasdaq -46.16 S&P 500 -8.30.