Record company Warner Music Group Corp. said Wednesday that its fiscal 2010 fourth-quarter loss widened on lower revenue, reflecting the continued shift from CD sales to digital music.

The company lost $46 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with a loss of $18 million, or 12 cents per share, during the same period a year prior. Revenue fell 13 percent to $752 million from $867 million. The fourth quarter ended Sept. 30.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 13 cents per share on $731.7 million in revenue.

"The company's revenue results continue to reflect the transition from physical to digital in the recorded music industry where increases in digital revenue have not yet fully offset the declines in physical revenue," the company said in a statement.

Revenue from recorded music fell 13.3 percent to $619.9 million during the quarter, with the U.S., Japan, and most of Europe the weakest markets. But digital revenue from the sector rose 7 percent to $183 million.

The most beloved capitalist in the world, Warren Buffett, has written another charming, thoughtful article in the New York Times.

And this one will make a lot of Americans furious.

Buffett's article is a "thank-you note" to our government, thanking them for the bailouts and emergency actions that Buffett says saved America from economic Armageddon two years ago.  Although people will always criticize the details, Buffett says, they can't criticize the outcome, which was remarkable:

"Uncle Sam, you delivered. People will second-guess your specific decisions; you can always count on that. But just as there is a fog of war, there is a fog of panic — and, overall, your actions were remarkably effective."

Buffett makes a compelling case that, if the government had done nothing in the financial crisis, the financial system and economy might have collapsed, at least temporarily.  And given that the system did NOT collapse, the government's intervention certainly was commendable.

But, as many people have already pointed out, no one benefited more from the bailouts than Warren Buffett, so it's no surprise that he's grateful.  Most bailout critics, furthermore, don't suggest that the government should have sat around and done nothing--they argue that the government's intervention should have been more fair and effective, particularly with respect to Wall Street.

Mortgage applications fell sharply last week as mortgage rates pushed higher.

The volume of mortgage loan applications decreased 14.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ending Nov. 12, the Mortgage Bankers Association said early Wednesday.

Refinancing applications decreased 16.5% from the previous week to the lowest level observed since July. New-home purchase loan applications decreased 5% week-over-week, the first decrease after three consecutive weekly increases.

"Rates increased sharply last week due to stronger economic data and lingering uncertainty regarding the structure and impact of the Fed's QE2 program," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics. "Mortgage applications, particularly for refinances, dropped in response."

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, led by technology losses as Cisco Systems Inc's weak outlook fueled worries that economic softness will hurt profits.

Cisco's shares lost 16 percent to $20.57 after the Internet network product provider's CEO, John Chambers, cautioned about "short-term challenges" in Europe and public-sector spending. Late Wednesday, the company forecast revenue and earnings well below estimates.

On a percentage-loss basis, if Cisco closes at that level, this would be the worst one-day percentage drop since July 14, 1994, when Cisco slid 17.71 percent, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.

Howard Silverblatt, an analyst at Standard & Poor's, said this was set to be the biggest one-day dollar loss ever for Cisco's stock.

By early afternoon, 385 million shares of Cisco had traded, making this one of the 10 busiest days in the history of the stock.

The warning from Cisco also dragged down shares of other tech heavyweights: Microsoft, down 1.7 percent at $26.48; Hewlett-Packard, down 3 percent at $42.83, and Juniper Networks, down 0.4 percent at $34.40. The drop in Cisco's stock reduced its own market value by about $21 billion in early trading, according to S&P.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 91.27 points, or 0.80 percent, to 11,265.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX shed 7.73 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,210.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC dropped 27.85 points, or 1.08 percent, to 2,550.93.

Analysts saw the outlook as worrisome, particularly since profit growth for technology companies this reporting period has outperformed the broader S&P 500.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. may fail to turn its sales around by the holiday season as planned since the discount retailer has yet to lure customers back from rival outlets, according to Cleveland Research Co.

Store traffic has declined and is unlikely to recover in the next two months, Cleveland analyst Jeff Stinson said in a report yesterday. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company also has had to cancel some promotions to “protect” profit margins, he said.

That evidence suggests Wal-Mart won’t revive sales at U.S. stores open at least a year by the fourth quarter as Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke predicted, Stinson said. Duke aims to attract shoppers by bringing back products the retailer had removed, revamping promotional displays, and offering free shipping to homes on thousands of holiday items.

Wal-Mart’s U.S. same-store sales have declined for five straight quarters. The world’s biggest retailer, which faces increasing competition from dollar stores and SuperValu Inc.’s Save-A-Lot discount grocery chain, is scheduled to report third- quarter results next week.

Greg Rossiter, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, declined to comment on the Cleveland report.

The free shipping offer, which applies to almost 60,000 products including furniture, jewelry and video games, is on now through Dec. 20, the company said today in a statement. It isn’t valid on Apple Inc.’s iPod and iPad devices.