Stocks took a hard hit Wednesday after a strong dollar and weak housing numbers prompted a pullback, starting with technology names.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 119 points at 9763. The Nasdaq dropped 56 to 2060, a 2.7% decline, and the S&P fell 21 to 1043.

Weak results from SAP pressured the Nasdaq and boosted the notion that tech stocks may be falling into a sector rotation as investors change their views on valuation and growth. The German information technology firm missed earnings estimates and its shares dropped.

"Markets have to consolidate before they can move higher," said Jamie Cox, managing partner of Harris Financial Group in Colonial Heights, Va. "People knew this was going to be ugly and nobody thought there would be a rosy finish to this [recession]. We're in the mud and we're just going to have to walk a while before the mud is off our boots."

The Commerce Department said orders for long-lasting goods during September increased for the fourth time in six months, while a key gauge of capital spending rose strongly, a favorable sign for U.S. manufacturing.

Manufacturers' orders for durable goods increased by 1.0% last month to a seasonally adjusted $165.67 billion, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had projected orders would climb 1.5%.

As of 4:04 p.m., oil futures traded on the Nymex declined five cents after the regular session close, dropping to to $77.41 a barrel after an unexpected boost to gasoline inventories was reported by the Energy Department.
For a detailed rundown on Wednesday s trading session see our market story.

Winners

The iPath Exchange Traded Notes S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index fund, which thrives on market volatility, took a sharp uptick of 6.9%. The Short S&P 500 ProShares fund rose 1.9%, among the highest performances for unleveraged ETFs.

Losers

The energy-heavy Market Vectors Russia fund dropped 7.5% as oil prices slid sharply. The strengthening dollar pushed back shares of the Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap fund by 7.2%.

Launching Pad
Discount brokerage Charles Schwab filed a fee schedule with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its new family of exchange traded funds, set to launch at before the end of the year. Schwab plans to offer eight ETFs originally, with the new U.S. Broad Market fund (SCHB) and U.S. Large Cap fund (SCHX) charging a below industry average fee of 0.08 percent. Its Schwab Emerging Markets Equity (SCHC) and Schwab International Small Cap (SCHE) funds will be the most expensive, with fees of 0.35%.

Thursday s Notebook

Earnings and Conference Calls
ABB, Accuray, Acme Packet, Acme United, Actuate, Adaptec, Adolor, Aetna, AGL, Airgas, Aivana, Alexander & Baldwin, Allegheny Energy, Allergan, AllianceBernstein, American Electric Power, Apache Applied Mocro Circuits, Asbury Automotive Group, AstraZeneca, Asustek, Atlantic Tele-Network, AutoNation, Avnet, AXT, Balchem, Ball, Bally Technologies, Bare Escentuals, Barrick Gold, BASF, BB Biotech, Bel Fuse, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Black Hills, BMC Software, Brookfield Homes, Brunswick, Brush Engineered Materials, Build A Bear Workshop, Burger King, California Micro Devices, Callaway Golf, Camden Property Trust, Chart Industries, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings, Cincinnati Financial Corporation, Cliffs Natural Resources, CMS Energy, Cogdell Spencer, Colgate-Palmolive, Colonial Properties Trust, Columbia Banking System, comScore, Conexant Systems, CryoLife, Curtiss-Wright, Denny's, Depomed, Deutsche Bank, Dime Community Bancshares, Double Eagle Petroleum and Mining, Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment, Dynamic Materials, Eastman Kodak, El Paso Electric, Elizabeth Arden, Enbridge Energy Management, Energen, Ethan Allen Interiors, Expedia, ExxonMobil, EZchip Semiconductor, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Forrester Research, Genworth Financial, Glimcher Realty Trust, Gold Fields, Great Plains Energy, Harris Interactive, Harsco, HealthSpring, Hertz Global Holdings, Hitachi, ImmunoGen, Ingram Micro, Interactive Data, Investment Technology Group, Iowa Telecommunications Services, Iron Mountain, Kansas City Southern, KBR, Kellogg, Keyence, LaBarge, Libbey, Lithia Motors, LKQ, Mack-Cali Realty, Macronix International, Manitowoc, Maxim Integrated Products, McAfee, Meredith, MetLife, Monster Worldwide, Moody's, Motorola, Mylan, Nanometrics, National Penn Bancshares, Navigant Consulting, NEC, Newmont Mining, Nintendo, Noble Energy, NorthWestern, Novamed, Novatel Wireless, NTN, Nu Skin, O'Charley's, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Olympic Steel, Opnet Technologies, Orthofix International, Panasonic, Patterson-UTI Energy, PC Connection, PC-Tel, PerkinElmer, PG&E, Phase Forward, Pinnacle Entertainment, Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, PNM Resource, Portland General Electric, Powerwave Technologies, PPL, Procter & Gamble, Provident Financial Holdings, Quixote, Radiant Systems, RealNetworks, Regal Entertainment Group, Regis, Reliv International, Revlon, Ruddick, SBA Communications, Sharp, Snap-on, Southwestern Energy, Sprint Nextel, Standard Pacific, Stanley, StarTek, Stratasys, Strategic Diagnostics, Strayer Education, Sturm Ruger, SureWest Communications, Tenneco, Timken

Economic Data
8:30 a.m. GDP
8:30 a.m. Jobless Claims
10:30 a.m. EIA Natural Gas Report
4:30 p.m. Money Supply