Stocks lower as earnings season begins Stocks dipped as markets opened. This photo from Oct. 9 shows traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Associated Press / October 10, 2012 October 10, 2012, 8:59 a.m. Stocks are down again on Wall Street, this time because of the prospect of weaker earnings for Alcoa and Chevron. Just before the lunch hour in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 67 points at 13,406. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down three at 1,437. And the Nasdaq composite index is off three at 3,061. This would be the third down day in a row for the Dow and the fourth for the S&P. Alcoa, the aluminum company, beat Wall Street earnings estimates on Tuesday night but cut its demand expectation for the year, mostly because of a slowdown in China. Chevron says slumping oil prices and production will hurt its earnings.