Markets Plunge on Economic and Corporate Worries

Stocks erased yesterday’s gains as gloomy outlooks from American Express,
and a number of retailers, increased concerns the U.S. economy will slip into
recession. The Dow fell 246 points (-1.9%), while the S&P dropped 19 points
(-1.35%).

Bank of America
(
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agreeed to acquire troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial
(
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for $4 billion in stock (read more). BAC shares
fell 2.4%, while CFC shares fell 18.0% today, after surging 52% yesterday when the news first broke.

American Express
(
AXP |
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shares fell by almost 10% after the company announced it will take a $440 million Q4 charge (read more).

Tiffany & Co.
(
TIF |
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reported a 1% rise in December same-store sales, and a 8% rise in worldwide sales. However, the company lowered its full-year outlook (read more). TIF shares plunged on the news,
down 11.9% on the day.

Best Buy
(
BBY |
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reported December same-store sales rose 1.5% and backed its full-year outlook (read more). BBY shares
dropped just over 5% in today’s session.

Amazon.com
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fell 2.6% after news the company lost a lawsuit brought by Basis Technology related to Amazon’s business in Japan (read more).

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Market Snapshot

Dow


-246.79
12606.30

NASDAQ


-48.58
2439.94

S&P 500


-19.30
1401.02

Strongest/Weakest Industry Groups

Strongest Industries

% Change

Weakest Industries

% Change
Mortgage Investment
+4.19%

Business/Management Services
-6.01%
Gold
+1.33%

Electronics
-5.92%
Aluminum
+0.83%

Restaurants
-4.16%

Economic
News

Export Prices (Dec): Actual 0.3%

Import Prices (Dec): Actual 0.3%

Trade Balance (Nov): Actual -$63.1B, Consensus -$59.5B