Inflation fears sink stocks
Stocks sank on Wednesday,
closing at their lows, with the S&P 500 closing below its 200-day moving
average. The Dow made a three-month low.
Breadth was negative. Crude was no help to the market, closing at $62.79, down
1.11.
The S&P 500 is off almost 3% in the first three
days of Q3.
Cyclicals and basic materials were weak as copper prices made all time highs.
General Electric
(
GE |
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PowerRating) made a 52-week low.
Inflation was on investors’ minds after the
ISM services index came in at 53.3 vs
65.0 in August, below expectations. It was the slowest expansion in over two
years.
Sprint Nextel
(
S |
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PowerRating) is suing Vonage,
saying the company is violating patent rights on internet phone call technology.
Freddie Mac
(
FRE |
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PowerRating) put the cost of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita at between $150 million and $300 million for S3.
NutriSystem
(
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PowerRating) guided well above
consensus increased its outlook on new customers to 115,000 from 65,000.
Mips Technologies
(
MIPS |
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PowerRating) guided Q3
lower and now sees revenues in the $11.8-$12.0 million range, down from the
$14.7 million consensus. The stock was cut to sector perform at RBC Capital.
Mercury Interactive
(
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PowerRating) guided
its third quarter below consensus, to $198-$203 million, from the previous
$205-$215 million. The company also said an informal S.E.C inquiry has become a
formal investigation. The company was downgraded to underweight at Morgan
Stanley, to neutral weight at Prudential, to neutral at Baird and to hold at
Legg Mason.
The New York Times reported that Delphi
(
DPH |
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PowerRating) may be ready to file for bankruptcy.
FedEx
(
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PowerRating) said it would raise
shipping rates beginning next year. (full
story)
Crude inventories fell 246,000 barrels, more than expected. Gasoline
stocks fell 4.38 million barrels; distillates fell 5.53 million barrels, both
also more than expected.
Strong sectors were: there were no green sectors.
Weak sectors were:
Biotech
(
BTK |
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PowerRating) -4.65% Natural Gas
(
XNG |
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PowerRating)
-4.12%
Oil
(
OIX |
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PowerRating) -4.03%
|
|
-123.75 | 10,317.36 |
| -36.34 | 2103.02 | |
| -18.08 | 1196.39 |
More stocks in the news:
Motorola
(
MOT |
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PowerRating) said it will take a $90
million pre-tax charge in Q3 as part of a cost reduction program.
ADC Communications
(
ADCT |
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PowerRating) cut its Q4 earnings and sales outlook and no sees
0.15 -0.19 vs. the prior 0.28.
Yum Brands
(
YUM |
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PowerRating) beat by a penny and
guided in-line. (full
story)
La-Z-Boy
(
LZB |
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PowerRating) said its Q2
results–and potentially beyond–will be negatively impacted because of a soft
retail environment, tornado damage to one of its plants, and lack of
availability of a key chemical component.
National Semi
(
NSM |
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PowerRating) meets with
analysts on Wednesday.
Brice Wightman