Stock markets slip on doubts of investors

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, center, rang the New York Stock Exchange opening bell Wednesday to promote his new movie, “Collateral Damage.” But the actor’s actions didn’t put much muscle into the stock market as Wall Street waded through another disappointing session.

Schwarzenegger was greeted by NYSE chairman Richard Grasso, above left, and trader Gerard Farco, above right.

Wall Street dropped for the fourth-straight day as investors looked in vain for firm indications that business was improving and corporate accounting could be trusted.

Stocks drifted lower on news that federal regulators were looking into booking at Calpine, whose shares fell $1.95 to $6.80 on news the company received a letter Dec. 20 from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding a review of its disclosure practices.

Agriculture: Ethanol feeds earnings at Midwest Grain Products

Increased demand for ethanol fueled a 60 percent boost in second-quarter profits for Midwest Grain Products Inc., an Atchison-based producer of wheat proteins and other specialty products.

The company reported net income of $2.55 million, or 32 cents per share, on sales of $54.4 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That was up from profits of $1.72 million, or 20 cents per share, on sales of $58.5 million during the same period a year earlier.

The profits boost came from added sales of fuel-grade alcohol and specialty, value-added wheat proteins, said Ladd Seaberg, president and chief executive officer. Also helping were reduced energy costs and a $694,000 profit from a federal program to support development of wheat products.

Economy: Companies cut labor costs, bringing productivity up

Worker productivity grew briskly in the fourth quarter of last year as businesses coping with economic hard times slashed workers’ hours by the largest amount in a decade and eliminated jobs.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that productivity the amount of output per hour of work increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the October-December quarter, up from a 1.1 rate in the previous quarter.

Businesses responded to slumping sales by sharply cutting back on their payrolls.

Workers’ hours in the fourth quarter fell at a 3.7 percent rate the biggest drop since the first quarter of 1991 and output declined at a 0.4 percent rate.

Communications: Cisco beats expectations

Sluggish communications spending cut second-quarter earnings at networking giant Cisco Systems Inc., but Wednesday’s reported profits still were nearly double what analysts had expected.

Cisco said it expected fiscal third-quarter revenues to be flat to rising in the “low single-digit” range from the second quarter, and added that it was difficult to give a clear picture on the company’s outlook given the uncertain economic climate.

Shares of Cisco, the largest maker of equipment that powers the Internet, fell in after-hours trading to $17.25, after rising to $19.40 soon after the earnings were released. Shares had closed up 11 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $18.61 in regular Nasdaq trading.