New York — Investors' increasing lack of faith in corporate America's accounting practices sent the Dow Jones industrials tumbling nearly 250 points Tuesday, the biggest drop in three months.
Analysts said Wall Street, already jittery about the timing of an economic recovery, was concerned that more companies might suffer from the same type of balance-sheet irregularities that brought down Enron. One target of investors' fury, the conglomerate Tyco International, fell nearly 20 percent.
Even stronger-than-expected consumer confidence numbers failed to stop the selling.
The Dow closed down 247.51, or 2.5 percent, at 9,618.24. The selling snapped a four-day winning streak and brought the blue-chip index to levels not seen since mid-November.
"On the heels of this Enron situation, people are very concerned about accounting practices," said Todd Clark, head of listed equity trading at Wells Fargo Securities. "People get concerned that we may have some other companies pulling shenanigans like Enron. People don't want to own them ... and that's undermining confidence."
Tyco tumbled $8.35, or 19.9 percent, to $33.65 on worries that the conglomerate was carrying so much debt on its balance sheets that it would be unable to grow. The selling intensified after a report surfaced that the company had paid $20 million to one of its outside directors and a charity he controls for advice on a merger.
Tyco also recently announced plans to split up, raising concerns about tax consequences.
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