VOA标准英语2010年-US Stocks Fall on Weakening Recovery

U.S. stocks fell for a third day as disappointing earnings¹ and economic news showed signs of a weakening recovery.  The Dow Jones Industrial average fell more than 60 points before the opening bell on Thursday after technology giant Cisco posted weaker than expected growth.  The Dow has fallen more than 300 points since Tuesday, after the Federal Reserve lowered its assessment² of the U.S. recovery.  New jobless claims announced on Thursday only added to the sour mood.

The US Labor³ Department says new jobless claims hit a six month high last week as 484,000 Americans signed up for unemployment assistance. 

The report comes after the Federal Reserve said the pace of recovery is likely to be more modest than anticipated.

Standard and Poor's investment strategist Alec Young. "It was just reaffirmation that the recovery is weaker than expected and that the risks of a double dip have gone up," he said.

A surge in housing defaults only added to investor⁴ worries. 

Realty Trac, which monitors the housing market, says foreclosures rose four percent in July.  That means one in almost 400 U.S. homes has received a foreclosure notice.

Those numbers were more than statistics in Atlanta - where thousands lined up for hours to get on a waiting list for public housing assistance.

Despite low interest rates, the U.S. housing market remains⁵ weak. 

But economist⁶ David Resler at Nomura Securities believes the worst may have passed. "We think that we're close to the bottom, but we may bounce along the bottom for a while yet because there's still a lot of uncertainty⁷ in the minds of potential home buyers and home sellers about where things are headed," he said.

Wall Street remained on edge Thursday as traders digested more disappointing earnings reports.

Resler told VOA that market volatility⁸ is due mostly to uncertainty - investors⁹ not knowing which way the wind will blow.  "I think right now what the economy needs is several months of simply stability, in terms of policy. I think the focus should be right away on extending the Bush tax cuts either across the board or to those making less than $250(,000 per year).

The tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year.  Democrats¹⁰ and Republicans are sharply divided.  Democrats say ending the tax cuts to wealthy Americans would ease the burden on the middle class and reduce the deficit¹¹ by 30 percent.

Republicans argue that lower taxes for those earning more than $250,000 a year, would result in more hiring.  

The issue could play a role in crucial mid-term elections in November.
 

1 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

2 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

8 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

9 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。