Markets Drop, Wal-Mart Disappoints, Citigroup Returns Billions

The major indexes gave back gains today due to rising oil prices, jobless claims and lackluster earnings. The DJIA fell -225.12 to 11430.95, the Nasdaq dropped -22.64 to 2355.73 and the S&P 500 dipped -23.06 to 1266.13.

Citigroup (C | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) gave back 5.89% or $1.16 to $18.54 after being forced to buyback $7 billion in auction rate securities from 1000’s of investors plus pay $100 million in fines due to false marketing tactics.

Wal-Mart (WMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) - The big box retailer announced disappointing sales that didn’t meet analysts estimates causing the stock to drop 6.19% or $3.76 to $56.99.

American International Group (AIG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) fell 18.18% or $5.29 to $23.80/share after writing down 11 billion in holdings causing the largest loss since 1970.

Brookdale Senior Living (BKD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) bucked the overall market trend today climbing 16.21% or $2.63 to $18.85 after the company posted a smaller than expected loss for the second quarter.

Oil climbed $1.41 to $119.99, gold fell another $2.50 to $880.50 and the US Dollar advanced against the Euro.

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