Wall Street Winces Ahead of Alcoa's Earnings

Updated from 2:33 p.m. EST

Stocks in New York continued to falter Monday with financials leading the descent, as investors awaited for the first fourth-quarter earnings report.

Price declines in commodities continued, while the major equity indices traded further downward into the close. Led by declines in Citigroup (C Quote) and Bank of America (BAC Quote), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 142 points at 8457. The S&P 500 was off by 22 points at 869, and the Nasdaq was down 39 points at 1533.

"I put aside some of my free market principles when I was told that the situation we were facing could be worse than the Great Depression," President Bush said in his last formal press conference as commander in chief Monday morning. The president, reflecting on difficult decisions of late, talked about his disappointments and what lies ahead for the president elect.

President-elect Obama called Monday for the release of the second half of the Troubled Asset Relief Fund (TARP), hoping to change the practices of the program which has funneled bailout money into banks.

Investors, meanwhile, held focus on earnings, anticipating steep declines in fourth-quarter reports, which would be led off by Alcoa's (AA Quote) report after the market close.

Analysts, on average, are expecting Alcoa to report a loss of 10 cents a share for the recent quarter, according to Thomson Reuters. Deutsche Bank downgraded the aluminum producer stock to sell from hold and reined in its price target by $2 based on revised commodity estimates and Alcoa's recently announced production cuts.