Monday, April 20, 2009

Investors are having doubts about banks' profit reports and wondering whether their better-than-expected performance masks larger problems with bad debt.

Stocks are falling sharply Monday as investors sell financial stocks and lock in profits after a six-week rally.

Worries about financials are overshadowed Oracle Corp.'s announcement that it would acquire Sun Microsystems Inc. for $7.4 billion. Concerns about the soundness of bank earnings are weighing on financial stocks. Bank of America is down 15 percent after posting quarterly results.

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 213 at 7,918. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 27 to 843. The Nasdaq composite index is down 52 to 1,621.