Greenspan Soaks Dollar

Traders used his comments as an excuse to sell the steadily sagging dollar, pushing the U.S. currency to multiyear lows.

Oil also reverted to its disturbing trend, rallying $2.22 to $48.44 a barrel. Sabotage and bad weather disrupted exports from Iraq, adding to worries about wintertime fuel supplies.

The Dow slumped 115 points to 10457, while the overheated Nasdaq cooled off by 34 to 2070. The S&P 500 slid 13 points to 1170.

Techs, financials and home builders paced the broad sell-off. Only energy suppliers and gold miners proved exempt.

The greenback wilted as finance ministers from leading nations gathered to discuss its extended slide. That was the extent of the response expected by traders. The U.S. has made no secret of counting on the weaker dollar to curb its hunger for cheap imports.

Meanwhile, foreigners are bound to grow weary of holding so much U.S. currency, Greenspan reiterated today in a speech in Frankfurt. "Given the size of the U.S. current account deficit, a diminished appetite for adding to dollar balances must occur at some point," he said. "But when, through what channels, and from what level of the dollars? Regrettably, no answer to those questions in convincing."

The Fed chief also didn't spare bonds, saying, in response to a question, that "rising interest rates have been advertised for so long and in so many places that anyone who has not appropriately hedged this position by now is obviously desirous of losing money." This will be news to the growing percentage of U.S. home buyers opting for adjustable mortgages to lower monthly payments. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.20%. Gold reached a new 16-year high at $447 an ounce.

Walt Disney (DIS) shares rose 1% as Street-beating earnings diverted attention from dirty corporate laundry currently on display in a Delaware court. Earnings jumped 24% thanks to the ESPN cable channels, which continued to run up the score, while ABC looked a lot less desperate with the "Housewives" soap adorning its lineup. Improved theme parks attendance helped defuse the impact of box-office bombs on the film studio's video sales. Earnings came in a penny above estimates, a relative novelty after the serial disappointments of recent years.

A veteran media executive once rumored as Michael Eisner's replacement at Disney will instead work his managerial magic at Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI). Mel Karmazin's hiring as boss vaulted the stock to a 10% gain. The upstart and unprofitable radio service has already committed $500 million to shock jock Howard Stern in a bid to spur subscriber growth.

In contrast, Nike (NKE) lost a star, as longtime chief executive Philip H. Knight stepped down from that post. He'll remain company chairman. The news tripped up the stock, dropping it 3%.

Drafting-software supplier Autodesk (ADSK) etched a 5% gain after reporting that earnings nearly tripled as sales rose 28%. The company also boosted near-term and long-term targets above Wall Street's expectations.

Shares of OSI Pharmaceuticals (OSIP) and Genentech (DNA) slid 9% and 2%, respectively, despite news that the Food and Drug Administration has approved Tarceva, their new lung cancer drug.

AstraZeneca (AZN) fell 2% on top of a 9% plunge in Thursday's New York action even as the FDA disputed a staff member's congressional testimony about the increased risk of kidney failure for Crestor, a cholesterol-lowering drug.