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Close: The focus at the start of the session was on the beleaguered telecom and wireless sectors in the wake of the recent warnings and the bearish news from WorldCom (WCOM -32.6%) and Ericsson (ERICY -22.8%). WCOM warned after the close Friday; said fiscal 2002 revenues would come in between $21-21.5 bln (consensus $22 bln) and EBITDA about 15% below prior expectations. The Street responded with five downgrades and S&P cut WCOM's debt rating. ERICY announced that it expects a full yr loss, plans to cut one-fifth of its workforce and raise roughly $2 bln through stock sales and no longer sees a pickup in demand in the 2nd-half. The telecom equipment stocks (NOK -6.5%, ALA -4.2% and MOT -1.6%) were hurt directly by these announcements with the overall market, which has been on the defensive for the last few sessions, unable to shake off the bearish bias amid these negative developments. The steady deterioration continued into the afternoon with the market internals turning decidedly weak as little other than homebuilding and utility stocks maintained a bullish bias.