U.S. stocks skidded to 5 1/2-month lows on Friday, marking their third day of sharp declines, as disappointing results from IBM increased investor concerns about a slowdown in the U.S. economy and made Wall Street skittish about the upcoming slew of earnings. The Dow suffered its worst weekly decline since March 2003, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had their biggest drops since August 2004. Stocks have now erased the gains built up in a rally that started around November's presidential election. For the year to date, the Dow and the S&P 500 are both down around 6 percent, while the Nasdaq has fallen 12 percent. "What we're looking at is a giving up of hope on the part of investors," said Joseph Keating, chief investment officer of the asset management group at AmSouth Bank. International Business Machines Corp., the world's largest computer company tumbled 8 percent to $76.70, a day after reporting lower-than-expected earnings. That sparked another sell-off on Wall Street and sent shudders through stock markets worldwide. --More 0041 Local Time 2141 GMT
