Stocks fall as Buffett deal brings modest comfort
NEW YORK — Investors worried about the economic recovery drew only modest comfort from billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s decision to buy one of the nation’s largest railroads.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said Tuesday it is paying $100 a share for Burlington Northern Santa Fe in a deal valuing the railroad at $34 billion.
Investors are on edge about unemployment and the stability of major financial firms in Europe.
Health care products maker Johnson & Johnson said it would cut up to 7 percent of its global work force and streamline its business structure to save up to $900 million next year.
In Europe, investors were unnerved by further efforts to restructure two of the U.K.’s largest banks. Lloyds said it was looking to raise about $34 billion through a share issuance, while the Royal Bank of Scotland got a $41 billion infusion from the government.
A rise in factory orders wasn’t enough to boost sentiment. The Commerce Department said orders to U.S. factories rebounded in September after dropping in August. Orders rose 0.9 percent in September amid increases in orders for autos, heavy machinery and military aircraft rose. Analysts had expected an increase of 0.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters.
Investors around the globe have been uneasy in recent weeks, wary about whether the economic recovery can maintain the same pace once government stimulus measures are removed. That uncertainty has led to wild swings in the market. The Dow Jones industrial average has risen or fallen more than 100 points in six of the last eight trading days, the most volatility since March.
In midmorning trading, the Dow fell 43.38, or 0.4 percent, to 9,746.06. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 3.23, or 0.3 percent, to 1,039.65. The Nasdaq composite index fell 10.13, or 0.5 percent, to 2,039.07.
Analysts expect trading to be choppy throughout the week, as the market readies for a frenzy of series of economic reports that culminates Friday with the government’s employment report for October.