A two-day rally in stocks was stalled yesterday as investors chose to focus on the latest spate of corporate earnings disappointments to drive their investment strategies.

Thorntons suffered two profit warnings in 2000 and two in 2003 but the latest spate started in April.

It then gained momentum in the last hour, buoyed by a late spate of program buying, traders said.

In late June 2007 a spate of emails with the subject line "You've received a postcard from a family member!"

But the latest spate of violence appears to many to be more serious.

Mr. Seay said that conditions in New York may well have something to do with the latest spate of cracks.

The latest spate of bombings have killed at least 14 people.

He blamed what he called the painful kick-back of recent economic problems for the latest spate of job losses.

But the latest spate of restructuring in the United Kingdom and throughout the European Union shows that we are far from achieving those things.

"The hunting season has ended in history," he said in an interview with The New York Times shortly before the latest spate of bombings.