The market can always find something to worry about. Stocks inched down on Friday, the end of a slow summer week, as investors focused on the piecemeal signs that yes, there is still plenty wrong with the world economy. Sure, there were no big developments in the European debt crisis. The second-quarter earnings season is winding down with calm and order, with most companies coming in ahead of profit predictions, according to AP. But instead of cheering, investors found other things to fret over. China reported sharply lower growth in its exports. The so-called fiscal cliff, when U.S. government spending cuts and higher taxes kick in on Jan. 1, looms larger now that the distraction of earnings season is over. All day Friday, U.S. stocks edged lower but only slightly. By early afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average, the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq were down by small fractions of a percent. The Dow fell 23 to 13,142. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost three to 1,400. The Nasdaq composite fell nine to 3,010. Stocks have barely budged all week. Many traders are on vacation, and for those who are working, there's no major economic news to help decide whether to buy or sell. "The sound of silence" is how Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Ethan Harris labeled a note to clients Friday. Manchester United, the white-hot British soccer club, had a lethargic debut as a public company. The stock went public at $14 and was up just a penny in early afternoon trading. Investors are worried about the company's debt-ridden balance sheet. A few stocks did make big moves. J.C. Penney jumped more than 3 percent, rising 77 cents to $22.87, after CEO Ron Johnson laid out more of his vision for turning around the struggling department store company. Lions Gate, the movie and TV studio, rose 3 percent, gaining 39 cents to $13.64, after reporting a revenue surge thanks to "The Hunger Games." Chesapeake Energy fell 4 percent, slipping 84 cents to $19.47, after reporting that the government is investigating whether there were antitrust violations related to its purchase of some oil and gas land in Michigan. Yahoo fell 6 percent, losing 91 cents to $15.11, after revealing that shareholders might not get most of the proceeds from an upcoming sale of part of an investment, as Yahoo had previously planned. -- SPA
