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Stocks closed lower and booked losses for the week, after a key economic report on orders of big ticket items fueled concerns about growth, offsetting upbeat earnings from Blackberry maker Research in Motion Ltd. and software producer Red Hat Inc. The data also gave investors a chance to book profits ahead of the long Christmas holiday weekend, while low volumes exaggerated the market’s moves.

Today, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 78.03 or 0.63% to 12,343.22, the broader S&P 500 index closed down 7.54 or 0.53% to 1,410.76, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed down 14.67 or 0.61% to 2,401.18. For the week, the Dow Industrials dropped 0.8%, the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, while the Nasdaq lost 2.3%. It was the heaviest week of losses for the tech-heavy index since July.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners topped advancers by a margin of 19 to 12 on volume of 986 million shares. On the Nasdaq, losers beat winners by a margin of 4 to 3 as 1.33 billion shares changed hands.

Stocks may not enjoy the Santa Claus rally, during the last five trading sessions of the year, since stocks have already run up big gains this year. The Dow is up 15%, the S&P 500 has gained 13% and the Nasdaq is up 9%. But as the year draws to a close, some analysts still have hopes for a rally. The stock market’s ability to continue to advance and maintain its gains of the past six months has been interpreted as a bet that the economy will have a soft landing next year, with the Fed expected to cut interest rates to help stave off a fast-falling housing market.

Stocks slid today after a report showing a surprise decline in durable goods orders overshadowed a tame inflation reading. Orders for big-ticket items rose 1.9%, but excluding transportation, orders tumbled 1.1%. The core PCE was flat in December. The key inflation gauge showed no rise in prices in November while Americans’ incomes and spending both rose, but came in a bit lighter than expected. Spending increased 0.5%, up from a revised 0.3% in October. Personal income grew 0.3% against the forecast 0.4% rise.

Stock of Research In Motion Ltd. closed down $3.70 to $130.00, despite reporting 47% growth in quarterly profit on strong shipments of its handheld devices. Additionally, Pacific Crest Securities raised the price target for the shares to $160 from $150. The company reported a third-quarter profit of $176 million, compared with last year’s $120.1 million. Sales for the quarter rose 49% to $835.1 million, compared to the $560.6 million a year ago.

Shares of Red Hat shot up $4.50 or 23% to $22.46, after the software developer posted strong sales and added more than 12,000 new customers. However, the company said third-quarter net income fell 37% to $15.5 million, from $24.5 million a year earlier. Yet sales rose 45% to $105.8 million from $73.1 million last year on the back of higher subscription sales of the company’s open-source software. Its subscription revenue was $88.9 million, up 48% year-over-year.

U.S. light crude oil for February delivery fell 25 cents to settle at $62.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter
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