U.S. stock futures pointed to a second straight drop on Wednesday as the emerging corporate-earnings picture stoked fears of a prolonged recession.

Before the opening bell, Wachovia swung to a US$23.7 billion loss, posting US$18.8 billion in goodwill write-downs and US$8.71 billion in other charges and costs related to market disruption, investing and other crisis-related losses.

After markets closed Tuesday, Apple Inc. reported a 26% jump in fourth-quarter net income. The company did deliver a bearish outlook for its fiscal first quarter earnings, predicting a fall while analysts had anticipated a rise in profits.

Yahoo it announced plans to cut at least 10% of its 15,000-person work force amid a sharp decline in third-quarter net income. The Internet portal also lowered its 2008 revenue view.

Corporate earnings reports are due later today from Merck & Co., AT&T, Boeing and McDonald’s.

Here at home, retail sales fell by 0.3% in August, Statistics Canada said. Lower sales in the automotive sector more than offset higher sales in five of the seven other sectors.

Separately, StatsCan said the composite leading index dipped 0.2% in September, after a 0.3% gain in August capped a string of five consecutive increases.

The Canadian dollar opened today at US80.52¢. down by 1.87¢ after losing 1.38√ yesterday.

In commodities news, oil futures fell US$2.45 to US$69.73 a barrel ahead of weekly energy inventory data, due at 10:30 E.T.

In M&A news, Samsung Electronics withdrew its $5.8 billion takeover offer for SanDisk, saying it no longer believed the firm was worth the money and that SanDisk’s refusal to entertain friendly discussions stymied hopes for a deal.

Overseas, Asian stocks ended sharply lower, with the Nikkei 225 skidding 6.8% in Tokyo as a strengthening yen hammered exporters. In Europe, the FTSE 100 was down around 3% in in midday trading.

Toronto stocks plunged on Tuesday, hit by disappointment over a smaller-than-expected rate cut by the Bank of Canada and by falling commodity prices.

Many analysts had expected the Bank of Canada to cut its key rate by 50 basis points and the 25-point cut that it announced failed to fulfill expectations.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 455.60 points, or 4.44%, at 9,795.80


The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 15.55 points, or 1.58%, to 969.39.

In New York, U.S. stocks fell on global recession fears and disappointing earnings results.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 231.77 points, or 2.50%, to 9,033.66, while the S&P 500 Index shed 30.35 points, or 3.08%, to 955.05. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 73.35 points, or 4.14%, to 1,696.68.

IE