* Disappointing profits, outlooks fan recession fear
* Boeing, SanDisk, Exxon among top drags
* Emerging market fallout adds to negative tone
* Dow, S&P off almost 4 percent; Nasdaq off 2.4 pct
(Updates to early afternoon, changes byline)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell for a second
straight day on Wednesday as a parade of disappointing profits
from bellwethers including aircraft maker Boeing Co <BA.N>
increased fears that the global economy might be in the throes
of recession.
Investors trimmed their exposure to risk, fueling another
leg of a worldwide sell-off that punished Asian markets
overnight and drove European indexes down about 5 percent or
more.
Boeing, down 6 percent, was among the Dow's top drags,
along with those energy companies, which slid on concern that
faltering economic growth would mean less demand for oil.
AT&T <T.N> , down over 5 percent, posted a quarterly
profit below Wall Street's forecasts as the top U.S. phone
carrier grappled with pressure on wireless margins.
"Everybody is concerned about the global recession," said
Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at
Canaccord Adams in New York.
He said news indicating that fallout from the global
credit crisis was now rattling Hungary and Argentina added to
the gloomy tone.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> slid 341.69
points, or 3.78 percent, to 8,691.97. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> declined 36.64 points, or 3.84 percent, to
918.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> shed 40.44 points,
or 2.38 percent, to 1,656.24.
Of the Dow's 30 components, only McDonald's <MCD.N> was
trading higher -- up 0.2 percent, or 13 cents, at $55.25 after
the world's largest hamburger chain posted a quarterly profit
that topped forecasts.
In contrast, Boeing shares fell 6.2 percent, or $2.89, to
$43.51 on the New York Stock Exchange, where AT&T, another Dow
component, slid 5.5 percent to $24.31.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> shed 6.1 percent to
$67.11. Rival ConocoPhillips, which slashed its 2008
exploration and production outlook, fell 8.1 percent to
$49.60.
The S&P energy index <.GSPE> slid nearly 8 percent.
U.S. front-month crude <CLc1> shed $5.22, or 7.23
percent, to $66.96 a barrel.
Wachovia Corp <WB.N>, which is being bought by Wells Fargo
& Co <WFC.N>, posted a third-quarter loss of $23.9 billion, a
record quarterly loss for a banking company during the credit
crisis. For details, see [].
Shares of Wachovia dropped 2.8 percent to $5.92, while
Wells Fargo shares lost 3.6 percent to $31.47.
On Nasdaq, SanDisk <SNDK.O> plunged 31.3 percent to $10.13
after Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> ditched its $5.9 billion
unsolicited bid for flash memory maker, citing SanDisk's
deepening losses and uncertain outlook. [].
But Apple Inc <AAPL.O> bucked the trend, gaining 7.2
percent to $98.14, a day after the technology company reported
a stronger-than-expected quarterly profit. Looking ahead,
Apple, known to be conservative with projections, offered
December quarter forecasts below Wall Street's expectations.
Yahoo Inc <YHOO.O> swam against the negative tide, jumping
5.3 percent to $12.70 on Nasdaq, as signs of strength in its
other businesses offset its report of a sharply lower profit
after Tuesday's closing bell. The Internet media company said
it will slash at least 10 percent of its workforce.
Argentina's government proposed to seize almost $30
billion of private pension funds, while Hungary hiked interest
rates to defend its currency.
Interbank borrowing costs fell again, but recession
worries held sway as investors fretted about the extent to
which the credit crisis has damaged the global economy.
(Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; Editing by Jan Paschal)
