U.S. stocks were down this morning after several news announcements created concern among investors, Bloomberg reported.

Microsoft Corp. said it would withdraw its $50 billion bid for Yahoo! Inc. In response, Yahoo stock showed the biggest drop since July 2006. As of 10:40 a.m., its share price was down 14.30 percent to $24.57.

In addition, Countrywide Financial Corp.’s stock continued to tumble after Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. said Bank of America Corp. should drop its $4 billion deal to acquire the company or cut the price. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s stock also fell after the company announced that its first-quarter profits dropped 64 percent because of an unrealized $1.6 billion pretax loss on derivative contracts and from lower profits in its insurance businesses, the Associated Press reported.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 85.57 points as of 10:40 a.m. to 12,972.63. The Standard & Poor’s 500 was down 5.97 points to 1,407.93 and the Nasdaq composite index was down 8.32 points to 2,468.67. Bloomberg said that three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.