Stock Indexes Tumble, Automakers Fall, Ozark Bank Climbs

US stock indexes tumbled hard today on higher oil prices and Middle Eastern saber rattling, hitting a 3-month low. The DJIA fell -216.18 to 11846.27, the Nasdaq declined -63.60 to 2398.46 and the S&P 500 gave back -25.58 to 1317.25.

General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
– The struggling automaker fell another 6.15% or .91 cents to $13.88/share after Standard and Poors said it may lower the auto group’s credit rating. This is in response to the damage to auto sales caused by high gas prices.

Bank of the Ozarks
(
OZRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
– This regional bank climbed 13.17% or $2.08/share to $17.87 after reporting it is well capitalized and does not plan to offer shares.

Citigroup
(
C |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Gave back 4.66% or $0.94, falling to $19.23 after bearish comments by a UBS analyst.

Logitech
(
LOGI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
– fell 9.50% or $2.85 to $27.14 when the maker of computer keyboards and mice was slashed to a “sell” from a “buy” rating by Goldman Sachs.

Oil climbed $2.40 to $135.00/barrel due to increased Middle Eastern tension, gold dropped $0.50 to $903.70/oz and the VIX spiked to 23.70.

Market Snapshot

Dow

-216.18 11846.27

NASDAQ

-63.60 2398.46

S&P 500

-25.58 1317.25

Economic
News

NY Empire State Index (Jun): Actual -8.7%, Consensus -2.0%

Net Foreign Purchases (Apr): Consensus 63.2B, Prior 79.6B

PPI (May): Consensus 1.0%, Prior 0.2%

Core PPI (May): Consensus 0.2%, Prior 0.4%

Housing Starts (May): Consensus 980K, Prior 1032K

Building Permits (May): Consensus 960K, Prior 978K

Capacity Utilization (May): Consensus 79.7%, Prior 79.7%

Industrial Production (May): Consensus 0.1%, Prior -0.7%

Crude Inventories (06/14): Consensus NA, Prior -4560K

Initial Claims (06/14): Consensus 375K, Prior 384K

Leading Indicators (May): Consensus 0.0%, Prior 0.1%

Philadelphia Fed (June): Consensus -10.0, Prior -15.6

Win up to $10,000 predicting the direction of a stock!