'Rebound' Suffers Relapse; 'R' Word Is Uttered Anew

SAN FRANCISCO -- For one session, at least, the skepticism was clearly warranted.

Ending 3 1/2 days of upward momentum, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.6% today, while the S&P 500 lost 2.4% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 6%. Profit warnings and other bad news from -- most prominently -- Palm (PALM Quote), Nortel Networks (NT Quote) and Disney (DIS Quote) served as harsh reminders of the still dicey fundamental outlook for much of corporate America.

Additionally, some market players were shaken (if not stirred) by a Reuters story late Tuesday in which Anirvan Banerji, director of research at the Economic Cycle Research Institute, said a recession is now unavoidable. ...