Stocks post 4th straight week of losses

With little upbeat news ahead of a crush of corporate earnings reports next week, stocks on Friday hit their longest losing streak since the market's spring rally began in early March.
Unrelenting worries over the economy, driven by poor reports on unemployment, consumer confidence and falling commodity prices, have kept investors largely out of stocks since mid-June.
"Nobody's investing because there's no reason to invest," said Dawn Bennett, CEO of Bennett Financial Group.
Stocks zigzagged during the week, failing to hold what few gains they could muster. The Dow Jones industrials and the Standard & Poor's 500 index have now fallen four straight weeks.
Investors are on edge as the second-quarter earnings season heats up. Aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. unofficially kicked off the period with better-than-expected results on Wednesday, but a warning from Chevron Corp. late Thursday put investors back on the defensive. Alcoa and Chevron are among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow.
The pace of reports picks up speed next week with results coming in from heavy hitters such as Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Google Inc. and General Electric Co.
Investors are looking to the reports, and especially the forecast companies give on the remainder of the year, for insight into where the economy is headed. Expectations are generally low as investors worry that they were too quick to expect a rebound in the economy when they began bidding stocks sharply higher in March. With little to fuel more gains, the rally has fizzled.
The Dow fell 36.65, or 0.5 percent, to 8,146.52. It was the lowest close for the blue chips since April 28.
The broader S&P 500 index lost 3.55, or 0.4 percent, to 879.13, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.48, or 0.2 percent, to 1,756.03. A handful of upgrades to technology shares helped shore up the Nasdaq.
For the week, the Dow lost 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 index slid 1.9 percent and the Nasdaq lost 2.3 percent.
Oil producers fell sharply Friday after Chevron said its refining margins fell in the second quarter and will send its results for the period much lower compared with last year.
In another blow to energy stocks, the price of crude oil resumed its descent Friday following a slight pop on Thursday, which had broken six straight days of losses. Investors see the plunge in oil prices as a weak indicator for the economy, which won't be as hungry for energy as long as the recession lingers.
A barrel of crude fell 52 cents to settle at $59.89 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has fallen sharply since hitting an eight-month high of $73 early last week.
Chevron shares fell $1.68, or 2.7 percent, to $61.40, while Exxon Mobil Corp. fell 85 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $65.12.
Investors have sent major indexes down about 7 percent since mid-June on the belief that a 40 percent run-up in stocks this spring was overdone considering the problems that still plague the economy such as rising unemployment. link....