WALL STREET

STOCKS FALL AS EARNINGS, MIDDLE EAST JITTERS TAKE TOLL Stocks sold off on earnings and geopolitical tensions yesterday, with Genentech, Brunswick, and Apple Computer part of the swoon, while Genzyme rose above the fray.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 121.59, or 1.09%, to 11013.18, its second 100-point-plus drop in four sessions as 28 of 30 members fell.The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 38.62, or 1.81%, to 2090.24, its largest one-day decline in a month and lowest close since June 14, a reflection of considerable weakness among technology stocks. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 13.92, or 1.09%, to 1258.60, its biggest one-day decline in a month.

Investors sold as escalating political tensions in the Middle East added to existing uncertainty about the quality of earnings and outlooks that will be coming in during the next few weeks.

– Dow Jones Newswires

APPLE’S SHARES DROP AS CREDIT SUISSE CUTS IPOD OUTLOOK Shares of Apple Computer Inc. fell the most since February after Credit Suisse said the absence of new iPod digital music players may crimp sales this quarter. Apple may not meet analysts’ sales and profit expectations in the quarter ending in September because the company hasn’t updated its most popular product in more than nine months, analyst Robert Semple said in a note today. He expects new iPod models in September or October to fuel holiday orders.

“We expect the stock to remain highly volatile based on the short-term focus around the timing of upcoming product introductions and their varying degrees of success,” Mr. Semple, based in New York, said. He rates the shares “outperform.”

– Bloomberg News

AIRLINES

JETBLUE ADDS TWO CITIES IN NORTH CAROLINA In a further expansion of its service out of New York’s John F. Kennedy airport, one of its six major hubs, Jet-Blue airlines has begun offering nonstop service to North Carolina for the first time. Beginning yesterday, JetBlue will fly three times daily to Charlotte for $94 and on July 20 will add four daily flights to Raleigh-Durham for $84. These additions will be followed by newly featured service from JFK to Nashville, Houston, and Aruba, amongst others. By the end of September, JetBlue will fly to 43 destinations from JFK, including seven outside continental America.

– Special to the Sun

PHARMACEUTICALS

FDA APPROVES TRIPLE COMBINATION HIV DRUG The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a pill to treat HIV infection that combines three widely used antiretroviral drugs into one pill.

The drug will be sold under the brand-name Atripla in America by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Gilead Sciences Inc. Merck & Co. will be involved in marketing the drug in countries outside America.

Atripla is a tablet that would be taken once daily by adults with HIV infection, the virus that causes AIDS. The drug could also be combined with other HIV/AIDS therapies, the FDA said. It was approved in less than three months as part of an agency program to more quickly bring life-saving medicines to the market.

– Dow Jones Newswires