Wall Street has another not-so-hot session

The Dow lost 129 points, which is not stop-the-presses horrible but it is the biggest drop since June 25 and the second-straight triple-digit decline. The loss is attributed to the prospects of a weak quarter for corporate earnings - as well as less-than-glowing outlooks for 2013. Alcoa, a Dow component and the first big company to report third-quarter results, had only so-so numbers and reduced its demand forecast. Chevron, also part of the Dow, warned that its third-quarter earnings will be "substantially lower" from the prior period. Also worth noting is a sharp drop in Apple shares. None of these developments is all that unexpected, but they do feed into the conventional wisdom that the economy faces a tough year ahead - and that, of course, has all sorts of political implications. A few up sessions could change the temperature in a hurry (markets are harder to predict than elections), but keep in mind that October is a notoriously volatile month for stocks. So, just keep an eye out.