A sell-off for tech stocks got even worse Friday on worries that Wall Street's frenzy around artificial intelligence technology has sent prices too high.
- The Dow fell 572.25 points, or 1.1%, to 51,770.31, dropping 0.9% for the week.
- The S&P 500 fell 140.32 points, or 1.8%, to 7,580.07, for its worst day since June, ending the week down 0.6%.
- The Nasdaq fell 747.73 points, or 2.9%, to 25,437.00, dropping 2% for the week.
The stock market remains only 3.1% below its all-time high, which has boosted the value of workers' 401(k) accounts, but it's become increasingly shaky as Tuesday's midterm elections approach. Worries about AI in general have already become a concern for voters across political parties, and President Trump has historically used the stock market's performance as a measure of his own success. Intel's stock led the way lower, plunging 28.6% for its worst drop since 1974. The chipmaker gave a forecast for profit in the final three months of this year that fell short of analysts' expectations, as CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the personal computer industry continues to feel pressure. The drop came even though Intel reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
Amazon fell 1.4% after reporting a weaker profit for the summer than analysts expected. Potentially more concerning for investors was Amazon's reporting that it burned through $42.4 billion of cash over the prior 12 months, according to a measure called free cash flow. It spent $94.8 billion on property and equipment, primarily through investments in artificial-intelligence technology. A day earlier, Alphabet's stock dropped more than 12% to its worst day on record and dragged the S&P 500 down after it told investors it burned through more cash during the summer than in the spring. The company behind Google and YouTube cited similar, mammoth investments in AI.
In the cryptocurrency industry, stocks tumbled following a hack on the world's biggest crypto exchange. The price of bitcoin fell below $77,000 from more than $86,000 earlier this month, and a US-based blockchain intelligence firm said a North Korean unit was likely behind the attack that impacted more than $6 billion worth of crypto at Binance. Coinbase Global fell 10.6% even though it reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Strategy, which says it owns about 4% of the total supply of bitcoin, fell 7.8%. It also reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Outside of tech, stocks were more resilient, as many rallied after reporting stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected. Nearly as many stocks rose within the S&P 500 index as fell. ExxonMobil climbed 2.2%, and Chevron added 1.8% after the oil giants reported stronger profit than analysts expected.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
