U.S. stock futures fell, pointing to a third straight day of losses for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, as several companies posted brutal earnings again. Kellogg Co., the biggest U.S. cereal maker, retreated 1.4 percent as UBS AG cut its recommendation on the shares, citing “consumer weakness in key economies.” Yahoo! Inc. jumped 16 percent after Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yang agreed to step down, opening the door for a fresh bid from Microsoft Corp. Futures on the S&P 500 Index expiring in December lost 2 percent to 834.1 as of 6:57 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 1.6 percent to 8,131 and Nasdaq- 100 Index futures sank 2.2 percent to 1,132.5. U.S. stocks yesterday tumbled for a second day as a record contraction in New York manufacturing and Citigroup Inc.'s plan to cut 52,000 jobs spurred concern the recession will deepen. The S&P 500 is down 42 percent so far this year as credit losses and writedowns at financial firms worldwide topped $960 billion. That would be the gauge's steepest annual decline since 1931. Bloomberg reported today that profits slumped 17 percent on average at companies in the S&P 500 that have reported third-quarter results. Analysts expect an 8.5 percent drop in full-year earnings, based on estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
