Stocks slide; Consumer inflation ticks up; GE's mixed results; Mattel's crowdsourcing

Wall Street looks to end the week with big losses. Stocks (^GSPC) are lower across the board with all three major indexes (^DJI) (^IXIC) falling more than 1% in early trading after China eased short selling rules and worries about a Greek default rattled global markets.

Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli says the move by Chinese regulators to allow short selling by fund managers is a response to the huge gains in the country's (000001.SS) stock market this year.

"It's just a gesture-- and a very strong one-- by the authorities in China who like to manage the level of speculation and the level of leverage in their market," he points out.  "This is definitely a sign that they are saying, OK, enough already."

Back in the U.S., inflation on the consumer level picked up last month.

The Labor Department saying consumer prices were up 0.2% in March, in line with estimates.  Yahoo Finance Columnist Rick Newman doesn't think this number will have a big impact on the Fed's decision about when to finally start raising interest rates.

"There's not really much new here," he notes. "Inflation has been running about a little under 2% for the past couple of years. This doesn't appear to change anything about what the Fed is looking at for a rate hike.  It's likely later in the year than in June."

Earnings from some big companies also not helping matters this morning.

GE revenue miss

Dow Component General Electric (GE) shares are on the move.  The company's adjusted earnings per share beat by a penny, but revenue fell short of estimates in the first quarter as the stronger dollar and weakness in its oil and gas businesses weighed on sales. This comes after GE unveiled it was selling most of its banking and real estate assets last week in a major restructuring.

Related: GE revenue miss; Mattel shares rally; Schlumberger jobs cuts pile up

American Express (AXP) shares are lower in early trading. The world's largest credit card issuer posting earnings per share that beat forecasts as customers increased spending and borrowing. However, revenue missed Wall Street views, falling 3% from a year earlier as the stronger dollar hurt sales and it announced it was ending its partnership with Costco (COST).

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Mattel (MAT) shares are higher this morning. The struggling toymaker reporting a narrower-than-expected loss of $0.08 a share in the first quarter. Revenue topped forecasts for the first time in six quarters as sales of Barbie and Fisher Price toys declined less than expected.

Cheap oil prices are translating into more job cuts in the industry.

Schlumberger (SLB) shares are up after the oil services company said its cutting an additional 11,000 jobs after profit fell 39% in the first-quarter. This brings the total number of layoffs at Schlumberger to 20,000 this year or 15% of its workforce.

Bloomberg terminal blackout

A crash of those Bloomberg terminals ubiquitous on trading floors and at financial firms worldwide caused some havoc in the markets early this morning.  The global blackout of the data system hit about the time European markets opened...and even led the British government to postpone a planned bond sale.  Bloomberg says it is investigating the cause.

Verizon (VZ) is planning to offer custom TV bundles, as cable competition mounts. Starting next week, consumers can opt for a slim package of TV channels, and can change the channel package once every 30 days.