Profit-taking sends Dow lower

An unsettling report on consumer incomes set off a spate of profit-taking on Wall Street today as investors worried that a tepid economy would erode companies’ third-quarter earnings. Another drop in oil prices failed to shake the gloom from the market.

While investors were cheered by the Commerce Department’s report of a strong rise in consumer spending for July, nearly flat growth in personal incomes and a handful of profit warnings for the third quarter made investors nervous. The news prompted them to cash in their gains following two weeks of advances.