Stocks Slide on Home Depot and Wal-Mart Earnings

  • August 14, 2007
  • Darren Wong

After a brief stint in positive territory, the major averages
have moved well below the unchanged line trading near their
intraday lows.

The weakness is due to poor earning statements from key retail
companies. Wal-Mart and Home Depot both announced earnings today
that reflect the recent weakness in consumer spending. The two
companies’ poor performance is helping to drag down the Dow.

Crude oil futures for September delivery
rose 1.2%  to $72.48 a barrel after the U.S. National
Hurricane Center upgraded an Atlantic depression heading toward
the Caribbean to a tropical storm. Gold futures for December
delivery rose fractionally to $681.10 an ounce on dollar strength.


Around Asia, Shanghai’s Composite index rose again by 1.1% to
4,872.79, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.5% to 22,007.32, and
Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.3% to 16,844.61.

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Stocks in Motion

Home Depot
(
HD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q2 Profit Drops 15% On Weak Housing Market, Reiterates
FY07 EPS Target (full
story). HD shares dropped 3%.

Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q2 Profit Surges On Strong International Results;
Guides Q3; Cuts FY08 Outlook (full
story). WMT shares lost 5%.

Mattel
(
MAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Set To Reveal Another Toy Recall Amid Lead-paint
Concerns (full
story). MAT shares fell 3%.

Fortress Investment Group
(
FIG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Posts Wider Loss In Q2 On Higher
Compensation Expenses; Shares Down (full
story). FIG shares lost nearly 8%.

Countrywide
(
CFC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Reports 6% Rise In July Mortgage Loan Fundings,
But Falls 14% Sequentially (full
story). CFC shares fell 4.5%.

For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.


Market Snapshot

Dow

 -109.98 13,126.55

NASDAQ

 -13.78 2,528.46

S&P 500

 -13.03 1,439.89

NYSE NASDAQ

Volume

 1,413,028,000 760,196,000

Advances

 632 1014

Declines

 2517 1856

Up Volume

 138 192

Down Volume

 1113 495

New Highs

 13 22

New Lows

 235 56




Strongest/Weakest Industry Groups

Strongest Industries

Weakest Industries
Healthcare Credit
Services
Energy Telecom
Internet
Insurance Brokers



Economic
News

Core PPI m/m +0.1% vs +0.2%
consensus

Core PPI y/y +2.3% vs +2.5% consensus

PPI m/m +0.6% vs +0.1% consensus

PPI y/y +4.0% vs +3.4% consensus

Trade Balance -$58.1 bln vs -$61.0 bln consensus

Darren Wong

Associate Editor

darrenw@tradingmarkets.com

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