US STOCKS-Wall St slides as banks fall; AmEx, GE weigh

                                
 * Brokerage FBR says AmEx may post loss, shares fall
                                
 * GE slides on analysts' bearish views
                                
 * Dow off 1.5 pct, S&P off 2 pct, Nasdaq off 2.1 pct
                                
 For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to early afternoon, changes byline)
                                
 By Rodrigo Campos
                                
 NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday,
as long-standing worries about the health of the banking system
resurfaced and a brokerage said American Express <AXP.N> may
post yearly losses and cut its dividend.
                                
 General Electric <GE.N> also weighed down the market, as
brokers lowered their 2009 profit forecasts for the company.
                                
 Financial shares were hit after investors on Thursday
applied for less than 2.5 percent of the $200 billion the
Federal Reserve pledged to loan through its long-awaited
program to revive consumer and small business lending, known as
the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) . For
details, see [ID:nLK668577]
                                
 Shares of JPMorgan <JPM.N> , down 5.1 percent to $23.67,
were a top drag on the Dow. Bank of America <BAC.N> shares fell
more than 10 percent to $6.19. Both the KBW Bank index <.BKX>
and the S&P financial index <.GSPF> dropped more than 5
percent.
                                
 "TALF got off to a slow start," said Jim Paulson, adding
that a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives  on
Thursday to recoup bonuses paid to American International  
Group <AIG.N> dampened investor interest.
                                
 "Who's going to want to get involved in anything that the
public money is involved in, if later on they can say anyone
who got (that money) has to do a, b and c now."
                                
 American Express Co <AXP.N>  shares tumbled 6.6 percent to
$12.20 after analysts at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey said the
company may post a loss in 2009 and 2010, hurt by growing
unemployment levels and rising credit card defaults. They also
said American Express may slash its dividend. [ID:nBNG452211]
                                
 And GE <GE.N> shares fell more than 7 percent to $9.35 a
day after the company's briefing on its financing unit, the
U.S. conglomerate's weakest link. [ID:nN20495992]
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 108.01
points, or 1.46 percent, to 7,292.79. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> fell 15.56 points, or 1.98 percent, to 768.48. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 31.51 points, or 2.12
percent, to 1,451.97.
                                
 Notwithstanding this session's drop, the benchmark S&P 500
was on track for its best 2-week run-up since 1974, when it
rose 15.95 percent.
                                
 One of the few bright spots of the day was Johnson &
Johnson <JNJ.N>, up 2.7 percent to $51.42 after an
anticoagulant drug from J&J and Bayer AG <BAYG.DE> was backed
by a U.S. advisory panel on Thursday, despite concerns over
possible side effects. [ID:LnN19463739]
                                
 Friday marked the quarterly expiration and settlement of
four different March equity futures and options contracts -- a
convergence known as quadruple witching, which can make trading
volatile.
 (Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr, Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama)