Stocks Slid at the Open

U.S. stocks slid at the open Monday, as investors are looking ahead to the start of first-quarter earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately shed 57.37 points, or 0.35%, to 16,355.34. The S&P 500 was down 10.25 points, or 0.55%, to 1,854.84. The Nasdaq
Composite lost 39.28 points, or 0.95%, to 4,088.44.

Chief Executive Edward Lampert is carving out some of the best pieces of Sears Holdings Corp. for its shareholders, moves that could leave bondholders at risk if its remaining businesses continue to deteriorate.

Many institutional investors in General Motors Co. (GM) say they’re keeping faith in the stock after the recall crisis wiped out more than $3 billion in shareholders’ value over four weeks.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the U.K.’s Department for International Development will contribute a combined $20 million to a private-equity fund investing in startup businesses operating in East Africa.

German industrial output rose for a fourth month in February in a sign that growth in Europe’s largest economy continued to accelerate. Production (GRIPIMOM), adjusted for seasonal swings, climbed 0.4 percent from January, when it gained a revised 0.7 percent, the Federal
Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today.