With no news to get them off the fence, traders were content to end a lethargic week with an even more lethargic Friday, getting an early start on the weekend. The S&P 500’s close of 2141.16 was a mere 0.01% lower than Thursday’s last trade.

It was hardly a breakeven day for all names, however. Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX), AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) all ended the week on a sour note, though for understandable reasons.

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (ERIC)

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson — the Swedish telecom company better known as just Ericsson — was hit hard today following its Q3 earnings (or lack thereof) announcement.

Last quarter, Ericsson lost 1 cent per share on revenue of $5.99 billion. Adjusted for one-time costs, the loss grew to net earnings of four cents per share, though that figure still fell short of the nine cents per share analysts were expecting. The sales figure also missed estimates of $6.05 billion.

If the news seems vaguely familiar, it may be because a couple of weeks ago the company cautioned ERIC shareholders the third quarter numbers would be rough. ERIC fell 21% that day, and continued to dwindle in the meantime. The market didn’t quite make the pre-emptive adjustment it needed to though, with shares falling another 5% on today’s official report.

AT&T Inc. (T)

Not only does the MA& carousel rumor continue to spin, it’s picking up steam. The latest riders are AT&T and Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), with the former allegedly interested in acquiring the latter.

It’s certainly an interesting potential mix. Telecom service provider doesn’t have a presence in entertainment and media, and in light of the fact that rival Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is still interested in buying Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) to leverage its digital video capabilities and its regular consumers, AT&T would be wise to make a similar move sooner or later.

The union of the media giant and AT&T isn’t digesting well with T shareholders though, we sent the stock 3% lower on Friday on concerns the two organizations are just too mismatched to work well together.

Skechers USA Inc (SKX)

Finally, shoemaker Skechers lost a whopping 17% of its value today after posting miserable third quarter numbers, prompting a downgrade of SKX from Citi.

Last quarter, Skechers USA turned a profit of 42 cents per share on sales of $942.4 million. The top line was in line with revenue estimates of $942.42 million, but the bottom line missed the anticipated profit of 47 cents per share of SKX.

The future doesn’t look particularly encouraging for SKX owners either. The company offered fourth quarter sales guidance of between $710 million and $735 million, versus consensus estimates of $799.91 million.

Citi downgraded SKX from a “Buy” to “Neutral,” simultaneously lowering its price target from $33 to $21 on a “lack of visibility [which] could result in further volatility over the next year while keeping valuation in a depressed range until the company returns to a more predictable growth trajectory.”

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.