Stocks Churn on Layoffs, Weak Retail Sales

Across the board, however, the November same-store sales picture was less encouraging. Costco (COST Quote), Limited (LTD Quote) and Pacific Sunwear (PSUN Quote) were among companies to announce slackening sales.

Bloomberg reported that management at GM and Chrysler were contemplating a prearranged bankruptcy as a means to get government funds.

Turning to economic data, the Labor Department said jobless claims for the week ended Nov. 29 fell 21,000 to 509,000. The result was better than economists' forecast of 540,000 claims for the week. Separately, the Census Bureau's October read on factory orders showed a 5.1% decline, a larger drop than the 4% consensus estimate.

Speaking in Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the government needs to take further steps to stop home foreclosures. He said that one option is for the government to buy troubled mortgage securities, and another is for federal agencies to help shoulder the costs of reductions in borrowers' monthly payments.

As the financial crisis was felt overseas, the Bank of England cut its key interest rate by one percentage point to 2%, and the European Central Bank reduced its rate to 2.5% from 3.25%. France also announced a $33 billion economic stimulus plan.

Looking at commodities, crude oil was down $2.16 to $44.63 a barrel. Gold was gaining $3.50 to $769 an ounce.

Phil Flynn, vice president and energy analyst at Alaron Trading, said that previous growth in demand for oil had been fueled by cheap credit. "With the global slowdown and the unavailability of credit, it's going to be very difficult to maintain those price levels," he said. "Don't be surprised to see $35 a barrel. ... We could be in a new era of lower energy prices for years to come."