NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell for a second day on Thursday as soft results from technology bellwether Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) fed worry about a cutback in business spending, while bank shares fell on fears of another major casualty in the sector.

... Another casualty today is nine-term California ... Fed policy-makers will cut interest rates a half-point when they meet at the end of the month.  Meantime, Countrywide shares soared 51 percent today on news the struggling mortgage lender is ...

He would be the highest-ranking Wall Street casualty of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Speculation swirled Friday that the chief executive of Merrill Lynch & Co. could be ousted from his job in coming days, making him the highest-ranking Wall Street casualty of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.