Black And Blue Chips
Earnings pre-announcements weighed on blue chips Tuesday, as Dow component
Eastman Kodak
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the third quarter. The Dow sank throughout the session before posting a 1.6%
loss while the S&P 500 slipped 0.8%.
As for the Nasdaq, not even news of a Microsoft
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could help the Comp, which fell 1.4% for the day. The Supreme Court voted to
send the Microsoft antitrust case back to a lower court, and that helped send
the software giant up 1 7/16 to 62 11/16.
Volume picked up by 12% on the NYSE from Monday’s level, as 1.10 billion
shares traded, while volume edged up about 3% on the Nasdaq, with 1.81 billion
shares changing hands.
In economic news, September consumer confidence came in at 141.9, which
topped the 141.1 estimate, showing once again that the consumer refuses to throw
in the towel despite the wall of economic worries that has risen lately.
“Looking at today’s session, we’re in a really precarious spot. Earlier
in the year, after the market melted down, investors really had to grapple with
valuations along with inflation and, of course, the ever present earnings
problems,” said Charles Payne, President and Head Analyst, Wall Street
Strategies.
“The way investors dealt with all this was by looking to blue-chip
stocks for safety, and as it turns out, they may have jumped out of the frying
pan and into the fire as one blue-chip play after another has warned, he added.
According to preliminary numbers, the Dow fell 175.82 to 10,632.33, the
Nasdaq slid 51.34 to 3689.88, and the S&P 500 lost 11.69 to 1427.34.
Top-performing sectors were oil services
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oils
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Weakest sectors included retailers
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broker/dealers
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Crushing the Dow was Kodak
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announcing that third quarter earnings would fail to meet Street expectations.
Also weak in the Dow were Du Pont
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4.0%, and Intel
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Top Dow gainers were Microsoft
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2.5%, and Boeing
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Tech standouts that avoided the selloff were Qualcomm
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QCOM |
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to 73 3/8, and PMC Sierra
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PowerRating), up 5 15/16 to 224 7/16.
Looking ahead, the August durable goods report will be released on Wednesday
at 8:30 AM ET, and analysts expect a 2.4% increase.