Tuesday’s triple-digit loss is third in a row for Dow

A parade of grim news sent investors fleeing stocks for a third straight day on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 104.14 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,617.32. It was the third triple-digit point loss in row for the blue chip index.

Lower earnings forecasts from corporate bellwethers like United Parcel Service combined with the weak report on manufacturing fed fears of more disappointing results from corporate America in the coming days.

“Our guess is we haven’t seen the worst,” said Carl Yingst, chief market analyst at Joseph Gunner.

Investors around the world dumped stocks and fled to the relative safety of U.S. government debt. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to another record low, and the dollar hit a two-year high against the euro.

Stocks fell from the start of trading following news that UPS had cut its earnings forecast 4 percent for all of 2012. The package delivery company said it expects global trade to slow even more than the global economy this year. UPS’s stock fell $3.61, or 5 percent, to $74.34.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 12.21 points to 1,338.31. The Nasdaq composite was off 27.16 points to 2,862.99.

JPMorgan agrees to settle over minimum payments

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a lawsuit by customers who claim the nation’s largest bank improperly increased minimum payments on their credit card bills.

The proposed settlement would end a three-year-old case against Chase for raising the cardholders’ minimum payment to 5 percent of account balances from 2 percent in 2008 and 2009. Cardholders claim Chase did it to make extra money on fees it charged to people who couldn’t meet higher payments.

The settlement was disclosed in a filing Monday with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

In the court document, Chase argued that increasing the monthly payments was a reasonable and sensible response to unprecedented economic turmoil and impending regulatory changes.

A judge plans to review the settlement in August.

GM Canada announces major R&D investment

General Motors Canada says it will invest $832 million in Canadian research and development at its complex in Ontario as part of its obligations under the 2009 auto industry bailout.

The investment will focus on environmental technologies and reducing vehicle weight, GM said Tuesday.

The federal and Ontario governments invested a total of $10.29 billion in GM Canada in 2009 as the automaker struggled to survive the economic downturn.

The automaker says the investment money will be spent between 2009 and 2016.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the commitment represents exciting future implications with ripple effects that will be felt far and wide.

GM’s Oshawa, Ontario, plant builds the Impala, Camaro, Chevrolet Equinox and Buick Regal. It employs more than 4,500 people.