Slumping oil prices and continued economic unrest in Asia and Europe pounded U.S. stocks Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by about  539 points by mid-day, with some cable stocks posting heavy declines.  

It was another day of unrest in what has been a trying month for the stock market, dropping 539 points to 15,474 points by mid-day Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down nearly 2,000 points since the beginning of the year.

Cable stocks took it on the chin Wednesday, with Netflix and Starz leading the decliners, down 6.5% and 6.1%, respectively. The rest of the sector didn’t fare much better, with 21st Century Fox (down 5%), Viacom (down 4.5%), MSG Networks (down 4.1%),  Discovery (down 3.4%) and Disney (down 3.2%) all losing ground.

Distribution stocks fared a little better – Charter fell 3.1% to $162.25 per share; Comcast was down 2.75% to $52.46, Time Warner Cable dipped 1.2% to $175.47 and Cablevision dipped 1.5% to $30.86 each.