Dow Ends Day Down 53

Stocks are closing out their first losing month since February as a quiet summer continues on Wall Street, the AP reports. A thin batch of earnings Wednesday gave investors little to get excited about. Tax preparer H&R Block plunged 11% after reporting revenue that fell short of analysts' estimates. Distiller Brown-Forman, which makes Jack Daniels and Finlandia vodka, fell 4% after its own results also came up short of forecasts. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 53 points, or 0.3%, to 18,400. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,170. The Nasdaq composite edged down 9 points, or 0.2%, to 5,213. (More Dow Jones stories.)