Stockhouse @ the Bell: Stocks slide as recession worries mount

Today on Stockhouse

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Greatest economic fear may be fear itself, says Sy Harding.

Martin Hutchinson discusses how bear markets can help your retirement planning.

Bullish Viacom buyer back to well again, notes Jud Pyle.

In today’s ThomWatch by Thom Calandra: D is for destiny; B for bullion.

Road to economic recovery has plenty of potholes, explains John K. Whitehall.

Good time for long-term investing in emerging markets? asked Casey Research.

Buzz on the Boards stopped by the Bow Valley Energy (TSX: T.BVX, Stock Forum) and theMinera Andes (TSX: T.MAI, Stock Forum) Bullboards.

Top Bullboards post:“I think that there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty with the outcome of proposed infrastructure spending for the construction and engineering companies. First, not much has happened yet with announcements on specific projects - in NA or globally. For those firms dependent on NA spending, the market won't likely respond until specific projects are won by individual. Secondly, there is a lot of idle capacity in engineering and construction right now. That could lead to low balling on bids and result in tight margins - in an industry renowned for very tight margins (2-3% NPM historically)…” – From shinny1 on the Canam Group (TSX: T.CAM, Stock Forum) Bullboard.

Top Bullboard: The Horizons BetaPro NYMEX Crude Oil Bull Plus ETF (TSX: T.HOU, Stock Forum) was the most posted Bullboard on Stockhouse Tuesday.

Top blog:basherbob discussed Tuesday’s market activity on the BasherBob's Timing The Market blog.

For news about small stocks that made big moves in Tuesday trading, please read the Stockhouse Canadian Small and Micro-cap Stock Report.

Word on Wall Street

"There's still trouble in the banking sector, trouble with respect to corporate earnings and nothing that we've seen is going to reverse that in the short term," Dan Greenhous, market analyst at Miller Tabak & Co in New York told Reuters.

Today In The Markets

Stock markets drop on worries about economy, car makers

DJIA	7,552.60	-297.81
NASDAQ	1,470.66	-63.70
S&P500	789.17	-37.67
S&P/TSX	8,378.70	-299.40
S&P/TSX Venture	919.16	-6.48

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TORONTO, NEW YORK (CP) - Stock markets retreated Tuesday on top of steep losses last week as pessimism about the global economy took a big bite out of bank stocks and investors worried about the survival of General Motors Corp.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index tumbled 299.4 points to 8,378.7 after losing more than 3.5 per cent last week, while the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 297.81 points to 7,552.6, a fraction of a point away its low hit in November.

The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 6.48 points to 919.16, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 63.7 points to 1,470.66, while the S&P 500 index lost 37.67 points to 789.17.

Please click here for current U.S. and Canadian market summaries.

After-Hours News

Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A)
After Tuesday's close, the measurement firm reported first-quarter earnings of $64 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with $120 million, or 31 cents a share, during the same period last year. Excluding certain items, Agilent earned 20 cents a share, down 44% from a year ago. Revenue slipped to $1.17 billion from $1.39 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 28 cents a share on revenue of $1.27 billion.

La Mancha Resources (TSX: T.LMA)
The junior miner, after Tuesday's closing bell, said it expects to produce between 85,000 and 100,000 ounces of gold in 2009, for an increase of up to 40% over last year, at an average cash cost of US$497/ounce.