gone south bigtime all of a sudden, page-4

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Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, led by telephone and financial companies, after AT&T Inc. said it faces ``softness'' in its consumer business and speculation increased that mortgage losses may accelerate.

AT&T, the biggest U.S. phone company, declined the most in seven weeks after Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson said slowing economic growth is hurting its consumer business. Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage company, tumbled the most since October 1987 on concern it faces a funding shortage.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 3.41, or 0.2 percent, to 1,412.77 as of 2:57 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 68.53, or 0.5 percent, to 12,758.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 5.4, or 0.2 percent, to 2,494.06.