(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks fell, halting a four day rally, after telecom heavyweights AT&T and Verizon plunged on bleak earnings outlook.  

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 81.80 points or 0.91% to finish at 8,952.89. The S&P 500 shed 4.35 points or 0.47% to 927.45. The Nasdaq Composite decreased 4.18 points or 0.26% to 1,628.03.

Shares of AT&T and Verizon plunged after Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett slashed his earnings forecasts and stock ratings on both carriers, saying a sharp slowdown in growth appears inevitable in 2009. He stated "Overall growth expectations appear significantly too high. Wireless, long the fastest growing segment, is nearing saturation, and history suggests that growth may slow abruptly in a recession." Verizon (NYSE: VZ) skidded $2.16 or 6.24% to $32.48. AT&T (NYSE: T) fell 99 cents or 3.37% to $28.43.

Among financial stocks, J.P Morgan (NYSE: JPM) plummeted $2.10 or 6.70% to $29.25 after Deutsche Bank lowered earnings outlook for the bank. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) decreased 35 cents or 2.44% to $13.98.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), the largest US aluminum producer, slipped 25 cents or 2.06% to $11.86.

Shares of diversified firm General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) dropped 44 cents or 2.58% to $16.63.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) on Monday said that sales of its light vehicle slumped 31% December to 220,030 cars and trucks from 319,837 a year earlier. Sales of cars fell 24.9% to 87,506 while truck sales slumped 34.8% to 132,524. For the full year, GM reported light vehicle sales of 2.95 million units, the lowest since 1959 and down 22.9% from 2007. Shares of General Motors finished at $3.71, up 6 cents or $1.64% from previous closing.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) registered a 32.4% decline in December U.S. sales to 139,067 vehicles from 205,685 in the same period a year ago. For full year 2008, Ford U.S. sales came at 1.99 million vehicles, down from 2.51 million in 2007. Ford jumped 12 cents or 4.88% to $2.58.

Shares of Apple Inc. surged (NASDAQ: AAPL) $3.83 or 4.22% to $94.58 after CEO Steve Jobs admitted that he is undergoing treatment for hormone imbalance. In a public letter to Apple community, Steve Jobs said “A hormone imbalance ... has been 'robbing' me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. He said further that "Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.” Apple's board of directors said in a separate letter that it supports Jobs' actions. Meanwhile an Apple spokesman clarified “There is a succession plan in place, but it is confidential for obvious reasons.” The spokesman added that the succession plan has existed for several years.

Drugstore operator Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) reported that its same store rose a better-than-expected 4.9% in December while Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) said that its same-store sales declined 0.2% in the month.