With a third straight week of losses for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index a near certainty, the backdrop to the dismal run can be seen in earnings reports now in from more than a quarter of the companies listed on the index. The S&P 500 is poised for a record-breaking sixth consecutive quarter of negative growth. "Expect charges to continue for [the fourth quarter], as companies clean house for a better 2009. Provisions for layoffs should increase, with the actual cash flow charge taking effect in 2009," said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst, Standard & Poor's. On Friday, General Electric Co. reported quarterly results that met expectations, but also warned of a difficult year ahead, fueling worries that had the major U.S. stock indexes falling sharply lower for a second day in a row. Read full story on General Electric. After a more than 200-point lapse early on, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was more recently off 74.39 points, or 0.9%, to 8,048.41, with 22 of its 30 components posting declines. The S&P 500 fell 1.4 of a point, or 0.1%, to 826.1, with industrials fronting the declines. Major laggards included Southwest Airlines Co. , off nearly 16%, along with GE, down 4.3%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 8.47 points, or 0.6%, to 1,473.96, with Google Inc. gaining after reporting its quarterly results. Read Tech Stocks. As of the close of business on Thursday, 93 of the S&P issues had reported negative aggregated results of minus $1.16 operating and down $1.18 as reported, according to S&P. Sales were down 10.7%, with 44% of the 93 companies reporting higher year-to-year quarterly sales -- with an average of nearly 6% -- and 56% reporting lower sales, with the average down 21.5%. The S&P is set for a sixth consecutive quarter of negative growth, topping the five consecutive quarterly declines that took place in late 2000 into 2001, and also a five-quarter stretch of declines that began in late 1990.

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