Stocks fall in wake of four-week rally

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street pulled back Monday as investors took profits after a four-week rally, fearful of poor earnings reports starting this week and more trouble for banks.

Investors were also disappointed that talks for IBM Corp.’s $7 billion deal to buy Sun Microsystems Inc. have stalled — a sign that the market is not ready to support big mergers.

Financial shares sold off after a prominent analyst predicted more losses at banks and said the government’s efforts to prop up the ailing industry might not be as effective as hoped.

The market was already on edge about the coming parade of first-quarter results, which kicks off today with aluminum producer and Dow component Alcoa Inc. Worse-than-expected reports could easily upset the market’s recent advance, which brought stocks up more than 20 percent from early March, when stocks hit their lowest levels in 12 years.