US investors abandoned blue chips and other large-cap stocks today as a lower-than-expected consumer confidence report fed into Wall Street’s fears of an economic slowdown.

With $100m a week to invest, Warren Buffett resorted to the law to close his latest deal, writes DAVID PLUMB

Wall Street succumbed to more selling today, extending Friday’s selloff in a volatile session that saw the Dow Jones industrials drop more than 300 points, rebound and then close down more than 230.

US electricity producers such as Duke Energy Corp and Williams Cos say first-quarter profit fell as a mild winter hurt demand and dimmed prospects for an industry already hurt by Enron's collapse in December.

New questions about accounting practices at Tyco and Enron provoked a broad selloff on Wall Street today as investors grew more doubtful about the honesty of corporate bookkeeping in general.