Market Minute: Dell Earnings Tumble; Retailers Report Soft Sales

New concerns about the health of the bull market, and a big day for Dell. Those and more are what's in business news Friday

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) tumbled 225 points Thursday, its worst loss in nearly two months. The Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) fell 24 points and the Nasdaq composite index (^IXIC) slid 63. The stock decline sent the yield of the 10-year Treasury to its highest level in two years.

There's still a battle going on to buy Dell (DELL), the company, but there's not a lot of interest in buying Dell computers. The PC-maker reported a 72 percent drop in quarterly earnings Thursday. Revenue was flat, which was actually a bit better than expected.

A court hears arguments Friday on billionaire Carl Icahn's effort to block CEO Michael Dell from taking the company private. The stock is trading at about $13.75 a share, close to the price being offered by Michael Dell's buyout group.

Nordstrom's (JWN) earnings rose 18 percent, but its shares are set to fall. The upscale retailer lowered its forecast for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, shares of menswear retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (JOSB) are set to tumble after slashing its earnings guidance.

Sony (SNE) has agreed to carry Comedy Central, MTV and other Viacom (VIA) cable channels on its planned Internet-based TV service. It's a big boost for Sony, which is racing against Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC) and others to secure content rights. Sony wants to use its PlayStation to provide an alternative to cable and satellite companies such as Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK), Time Warner Cable (TWC), Dish Network (DISH) and DirecTV (DTV).

There's also a new competitor in the business to process mobile payments. Facebook (FB) will make it easier for its users to buy products when using the apps of its partner companies. EBay's (EBAY) PayPal unit and a division of Google dominate the field right now.

And Ford Motor (F) has reversed course. It will make a one-time payment of $550 to owners of its C-Max model, after lowering the advertised mileage on the hybrid by up to seven mpg.

-Produced by Drew Tractenberg.

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