Wall Street Deflates 3% on Jobs Data, Profit Warnings

"It's a bearish market, and until we start to see spreads change it's going to be very difficult to turn it around," says Newsom. "We have to continue to remind people that neither a $6 decrease nor a $15 increase in oil prices are as meaningful as they used to be."

Gold gave up $24.30 to settle at $841.70 an ounce.

Moving on to Treasuries, the 10-year note was giving up 10/32 to yield 2.5%, and the 30-year note was down 28/32, yielding 3%. The dollar was recently stronger against the pound, and weaker against the euro and yen.

Overseas, the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt took losses Wednesday. Stocks in Asia were mixed -- with Japan's Nikkei ending higher while Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost ground.