Stocks Down at Opening

Wall Street opened slightly down this morning in a pullback, following two straight gangbuster days, as traders await the flood of earnings starting today.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the Dow is down three-tenths of 1 percent.

The broader S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq are both down about two-tenths of 1 percent.

Today marks the unofficial kickoff of third-quarter earnings season: Aluminum giant Alcoa reports today after close, traditionally the first big stock to report. This is a crucial quarter and I'll talk more about that later.

Meanwhile, if you didn't see my story on the perilous condition of the U.S. dollar in today's paper, click here to read it. The dollar is in trouble and I explain what it means for you.

-- Frank Ahrens
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