Profit Takers Indulge, Citibank Falls, Kerkorian Dumps Ford

  • October 21, 2008
  • David Goodboy

Profit taking ruled the market today after yesterday’s impressive rally. Mixed news on the earnings front further weighed on the indexes pushing the DJIA down -232.81 to 9032.62, the Nasdaq fell -73.35 to 1696.68 and the S&P 500 gave back -30.35 to 955.05. Citibank being downgraded and word from billionaire Kurt Kerkorian that he is dumping Ford shares further shoved the indexes down the steps.

Ford
(
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PowerRating) – Kurt Kerkorian gave word that he is selling a substantial stake and may liquidate his entire holdings forcing the stock down 6.87% or 0.16 cents to $2.17/share.

Citibank
(
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PowerRating) – Dropped 6.03% or 0.91 cents to $14.18 after being downgraded to a sell from Goldman.

Myriad Genetics
(
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PowerRating) – Climbed 4.80% or $2.83 to $61.80 after the company revealed plans to spin off a unit.

OptionsXpress
(
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PowerRating) – The option trading broker added 13.99% or $1.77 to $14.42/share after crushing analysts profit estimates.

Gold fell another $16.10 to $773.90, oil slipped $2.49 to $71.90 and the VIX index climbed 4.02% to $70.33

Market Snapshot

Dow

 -232.81 9032.62

NASDAQ

 -73.35 1696.68

S&P 500

 -30.35 955.05

Economic
News

New Home Sales (Sep): Consensus 458K, Prior 460K

Consumer Confidence (Oct): Consensus 54.0, Prior 59.8

Durable Orders (Sep): Consensus -0.5%, Prior -4.5%

Crude Inventories (Oct 25): Consensus NA, Prior NA

FOMC Policy Statement: Consensus NA, Prior NA

Chain Deflator-Adv. (Q3): Consensus 4.0%, Prior -1.1%

GDP-Adv. (Q3): Consensus -0.1%, Prior 2.8%

Initial Claims (Oct 25): Consensus NA, Prior NA

Employment Cost Index (Q3): Consensus 0.7%, Prior 0.7%

Personal Income (Sep): Consensus 0.1%, Prior 0.5%

Personal Spending (Sep): Consensus 0.1%, Prior 0.0%

Chicago PMI (Oct): Consensus 49.7, Prior 56.7

Mich Sentiment-Rev. (Oct): Consensus 67.0, Prior 57.5

 

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