Mid-Day Recap: Multiple Factors Drive Stocks South

It’s adding up to be a pretty bad day for markets as new orders for durable goods tumbled, demand for mortgage applications shrunk, the Chinese stock market dropped precipitously, crude oil continues to weaken, and earnings were soft all around.

Three hours into the Wednesday session, the S&P 500 has shed 0.46% to 974, the Nasdaq has fallen 0.42% to 1967, and the Dow is trading 0.34% lower at 9065.

Orders for durable goods fell by 2.5% in the month, which in percentage terms is five times worse than analysts’ expectations. The biggest drop in five months was led by a 13% decline in the transportation sector, as orders for commercial planes slid 38.5% due to production problems at Boeing. The only good news was that when transportation is excluded, new orders actually increased 1.1% in the month â€