A stock rally fell apart late Tuesday as investors' jitters over Washington's likely next moves trumped strong earnings and consumer-sentiment data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 88 points at its intraday high and traded in positive territory for most of the session. But a selloff in the last hour caused the blue-chip measure to close down 2.57 points at 10194.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3% despite a 1.4% gain in bellwether Apple after it reported record earnings late Monday. The S&P 500 declined 0.4%, led by a 1.7% slide in its financial sector, which had traded in positive territory early in the day. American International Group slid 6.5%, Goldman Sachs Group fell 2.7%, and J.P. Morgan Chase fell 2%. Wall Street faces several big risks from events taking shape in Washington this week. Traders will digest hearings on the bailout of AIG, an interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve, a reconfirmation battle for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and a State of the Union Address in which President Obama may offer new details on his proposal to restrict banks' speculative trading.[Read more...]