U.S. STOCKS FELL ON THURSDAY AS INVESTORS WORRIED ABOUT THE TIMING OF MICROSOFT CORP.'S LAUNCH OF ITS NEW OPERATING SYSTEM, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. BLUE CHIPS, HOWEVER, FINISHED NEAR THE FLAT LINE, AS SHARES OF EXXON MOBIL CORP., THE WORLD'S LARGEST PUBLIC OIL COMPANY, SHOT TO AN ALL-TIME HIGH AFTER IT REPORTED QUARTERLY PROFIT OF MORE THAN $10 BILLION. BASED ON THE LATEST AVAILABLE DATA, THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE WAS DOWN 2.08 POINTS, OR 0.02 PERCENT, TO END UNOFFICIALLY AT 11,100.43. THE STANDARD & POOR'S 500 INDEX WAS DOWN 5.19 POINTS, OR 0.41 PERCENT, TO FINISH UNOFFICIALLY AT 1,263.21. THE NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX WAS DOWN 15.99 POINTS, OR 0.77 PERCENT, TO CLOSE UNOFFICIALLY AT 2,054.47.
