The Dow fell 425 points yesterday to close below 8,000 for the first time since 2003 as economic news and worries over the fate of the big three automakers pushed the market lower in the final hour of trading. The selling really heated up in the final minutes and onlyRead more
Market Closes Below 8,000
AutoZone Poised to Fall Below $100
Yesterday morning I mentioned the option activity in AutoZone (AZO, $100.48, down $6.68) from Monday’s trading session. The stock closed at $107 on Tuesday which allowed us to get into a couple of November and December put option plays at lower prices. Today’s 6% drop in the stock can beRead more
Big 3 Testify
The big news today is the testimony of America’s car industry as CEO’s of General Motors (GM, $2.60, down $0.49), Ford (F, $1.45, down $0.23) and Chrysler are pleading their case for a $25 billion bailout before the House Financial Services Committee. The testimony is endearing and heated at theRead more
Yahoo's CEO Steps Down
AutoZone Gets "Buy" Rating
Let’s see how this one turns out. Citigroup (C, $8.89, down $0.63), whose stock has been in shambles recently, initiated coverage of AutoZone (AZO, $104.59, down $1.17) yesterday with a “Buy” rating on the stock. Citigroup blew its chance to close a deal for Wachovia (WB, $5.27, down $0.22) andRead more
Baidu Gets Bitten
Baidu.com (BIDU, $134.09, down $44.80) took a pounding today as the China-based Internet search engine company saw its shares decline 25%. A report that Baidu sold paid listing links to unlicensed medical sites with unproven claims for their products weighed heavy on the stock. The news crippled an already weakRead more
Abercrombie Continues Lower
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF, $15.99, down $1.80) is trading lower again this morning following Friday’s disappointing earnings report. The company missed Wall Street’s expectations and offered a bleak outlook on holiday sales as it cut its fiscal-year numbers and sees results for the current quarter well below expectations. I mentionedRead more
Option Expiration Week Could Bring Added Volatility
Retailers Hurtin' For Certain
If today’s earning reports are any indication for the retail sector’s Christmas shopping season then they are in t-r-o-u-b-l-e. Don’t shoot the messenger but Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF, $19.61, down $2.83) and JC Penney (JCP, $17.40, down $1.88) are getting walloped this morning after reporting disappointing earnings. Abercrombie profits fellRead more