Trade Deficit Surges, Markets Collapse

A surge in the nation's trade deficit rattled investors to send the markets tumbling to a sharply lower close with the Dow skidding 265 points to 10,378. Nasdaq plummeting 68 points to 2208.

On the upside

Second quarter earnings for Macy's (NYSE: M) surged to surpass estimates prompting the department store operator to raise its full year outlook.

On the downside

Systemax (NYSE: SYX) reported higher second quarter earnings but the results fell far short of expectations.

Second quarter earnings dropped for URS (NYSE: URS) amidst a challenging economy.

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) began taking pre-sale orders for its Droid 2 smartphone but the stock price fell.

While fourth quarter earnings rose for Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), revenue missed expectations.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) will replace first generation iPod nano units sold in Japan between September 2005 and December 2006 that overheat.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 8 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plummeted 25 points to 620.