NEW YORK, May 5 (UPI) -- U.S. markets opened with a stumble Monday with shares of Yahoo! falling 21 percent on Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT)'s decition to end negotiations during the weekend.

After three months of Yahoo! and Microsoft mostly jockeying for position, Yahoo! Chief Executive Jerry Yang held out for $37 a share and Microsoft chief Steven Ballmer walked away from the formal talks, having offered $33 per share.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 96.15 points in late morning trading, off 0.75 percent to 12,962.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.10 or 0.57 percent to 1,405.80. The Nasdaq composite fell 11.81 or 0.48 percent to 2,465.18.

The 10-year treasury note gained 4/32 to yield 3.86 percent.

The euro traded at $1.5478 from Friday's $1.5413 and the dollar traded at 105.172 yen from Friday's 105.4 yen.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 57.07 points to 26,183.95, off 0.22 percent. In Japan, the stock market was closed Monday.

Retailers from afar like South Florida

MIAMI, May 5 (UPI) -- International retailers have found that South Florida, with its well-heeled customer base, is a good place to build U.S. brand name recognition, analysts say.

Although consumer spending is slowing across the United States, South Florida is "a strong market for wealth," retail consultant Stan Eichelbaum told The Miami Herald Monday.

In recent months, Italian designer Anna Molinari opened her first U.S. store, Blumarine's, in Miami. Spanish designer Adolfo Dominguez launched a flagship store at Village of Merrick Park in Coral Gables. And Brazilian designer Carlos Miele is set to open in South Florida in the next few months, the Herald reported.

''Our American retailers have plumb run out of new ideas,'' Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Trend Report, told the newspaper.

"That's opened the door for these European and Asian retailers who are willing to experiment," he said.

Internet question hangs over Microsoft

REDMOND, Wash., May 5 (UPI) -- Microsoft Corp.'s decision to walk away from a pursuit of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) leaves the Redmond, Wash., company with a basic gap in its future, analysts said Monday.

The software giant is still on solid ground, analysts said. But the high-tech future belongs to the Internet, economists told The New York Times. (NYSE:NYT)

"The future of mass-market computing is not the personal computer," Timothy Bresnahan, an economist at Stanford University told The Times.

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer's record "will be defined by how he manages this tremendous Internet transformation over the next few years," Forrester Research CEO George Colony told the newspaper.

How much is that future worth was given a pragmatic answer over the weekend.

Before talks broke down, Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang held out for $37 a share for the company, while Ballmer would only go as far as $33 per share, sources said. The company's share price Friday closed at $27.65.

Fuel costs to affect summer entertainment

NEW YORK, May 5 (UPI) -- Entertainment that travels -- from carnivals to ice cream trucks -- will likely see changes in 2008 due to rising fuel prices, U.S. company officials said.

The changes could include increased prices or cutbacks of services, ABC News reported Monday.

UsSkyAds.com, which flies banners, such as wedding proposals, over stadiums is keeping an eye on soaring fuel prices and may raise its standard rate of $450 per hour, owner Paul Calabro said in an ABC News report.

The Dixieland Carnival Co. has already canceled four shows -- all charity events -- this year after spending an additional $36,000 on fuel in 2007 for the company's 38 trucks, owner Billy Tucker said.

Even ice cream trucks are feeling the heat of rising fuel costs. James Conway, vice president of Mister Softee, said prices are going up for some of the products his trucks deliver.

The gas-powered ice cream trucks use diesel fuel to run their refrigerators, "a double whammy," Conway said.