Stocks continued to slide Friday, after logging their worst two-day decline since June, as President Obama's proposed new restrictions on the financial industry continued to ripple through the market.
Obama proposed limiting banks' size and risk-taking ability, including preventing them from trading with their own money and owning hedge funds.
"While the financial system is far stronger today than it was one year ago, it is still operating under the exact same rules that led to its near collapse," Obama said Thursday. "Never again will the American people be held hostage by a bank that is too big to fail."
This could be the first in a string of global moves to clamp down on banks, Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian said on CNBC this morning.
We as investors have to be able to navigate these new factors, because that's the reality," said El-Erian, CEO of the world's largest bond fund. "This thing is going to intensify. You're going to read about it in other countries."
There was some good news on the earnings front: Dow components General Electric and McDonald's beat expectations this morning, following beats by both Google and American Express last night.
General Electric reported its earnings fell for an eighth straight quarter but topped expectationsfor both earnings and revenue as cost-cutting measures helped offset sluggish demand for jet engines and other heavy equipment.
McDonald's edged past forecasts for both earnings and revenue as global same-store sales rose 2.3 percent.
After the bell Thursday, Google and American Express beat estimates but both stocks fell.
AMD and Capital One also declined despite beating expectations.
Suntrust Banks advanced after the regional bank reported its loss narrowed in the most recent quarter but said conditions remained challenging.
Regional banks did well yesterday in a down market amid the perception that they would be affected far less by President Obama's planned reforms than big banks, and amid signs of improving credit trends.
The TV food fight between Cablevision and Scripps Networks finally ended today as the companies reached an agreement to return Food Network and HGTV to Cablevision customers.
Meanwhile, the freedom fight is heating up: China called U.S. accusations regarding Internet censorship and freedom "baseless", following a critical speech by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
And at the candy counter, Hershey will not counterbid for Cadbury, , the Financial Times reported. Earlier this week, Cadbury agreed to be bought by Kraft Foods in a $19 billion deal.
