Kodak Adds To Market’s Woes

Eastman Kodak added to the stock market’s woes Thursday when it slashed its dividend and announced a historic shift to digital imaging.

Kodak’s stock, a Dow component since 1930, plunged 18% on the news and weighed on a market already reeling from currency concerns and rising oil prices.

The news also pressured HP , off 3.5%, which will now be a competitor in the printer market.

The day’s economic news was mixed. Durable orders unexpectedly fell, but jobless claims and home sales came in better than expected. Late-day selling in the futures market exacerbated the slide and threatened to spill over into Friday.

The Nasdaq fell 26 to 1817, the S&P 500 fell 6 to 1003, and the Dow lost 80 to 9343. Volume declined to 1.52 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 21-11 on the NYSE, and 23-8 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 73% on the NYSE, and 80% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 76-16 on the NYSE, and 102-6 on the Nasdaq.

After the close, Solectron beat estimates. Research In Motion matched estimates and raised guidance, while Manugistics met estimates but came in light on revenues.

During the day, Micron fell 3.7% despite beating estimates and announcing an investment from Intel .

Red Envelope’s IPO wasn’t bad under the circumstances, pricing in the middle of the range at $14, opening at $14.85, and closing at $14.55.

Dell was unchanged on news of its move into consumer electronics.

Lucent gained 4.5% on speculation that the company could win a big contract and a $230 million deal with China Unicom that sent UTStarcom 6% lower.

Amazon gained 1% on news that the company is starting its own search service.

Broadcom gained 2% on a restructuring.

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