AOL warning hits shares

WEAKNESS in AOL Time Warner after a profit warning for its online unit, coupled with a decision

Around 11.45 am ET, the Dow Jones industrial average, down 121.98 to 8740.59, the Nasdaq composite, down 35.30 to 1449.48 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, down 13.66 to 920.87, all registered losses. US stocks have started the first days of December lower after gaining for eight straight weeks.

“I think we have gotten ourselves into a classic year-end speculative mentality,” said David Briggs, head of equity trading at Federated Investors.