Tuesday was a letdown following the market’s gains yesterday, as the Dow Jones Industrials finished down more than 100 points and other major benchmarks posted modest losses. Earnings season has gotten off to a mixed start, with some pockets of the economy faring well while others are showing signs of potential trouble ahead. Although the overall market decline wasn’t all that severe, some individual stocks took much larger hits, and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), W.W. Grainger (NYSE:GWW), and Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we’ll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.
Goldman falls down on the job
Shares of Goldman Sachs dropped nearly 5%, leading the Dow lower as the investment banking giant released lackluster financial results for the first quarter. Both revenue and earnings were weaker than investors had expected, and Goldman blamed poor performance in its trading business for much of the shortfall. In particular, Goldman’s revenue from stock trading was down by more than $100 million from the year-ago period, which is somewhat surprising given the company’s reputation for excellence and the stock market’s advance during the first quarter. Moreover, CFO Martin Chavez said that commodities and currencies also hurt Goldman’s results, noting that the company “could have done a better job navigating the markets.” The news was particularly shocking given that the Wall Street giant’s competitors didn’t make similar missteps, suggesting that even Goldman Sachs is vulnerable to volatile markets and occasional lapses in judgment.
Top Gold Stocks To Watch Right Now: Newell Rubbermaid Inc.(NWL)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Shauna O’Brien]
Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NWL) announced on Wednesday that it has finalized the sale of its Hardware business.
The sale, which was first reported on August 9, was completed on Wednesday. Nova Capital has acquired NWL’s Hardware business which includes the Amerock, Ashland, Bulldog and Shur-Line brands.
NWL will receive approximately $175 million in after-tax proceeds from the sale.
Newell Rubbermaid shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Wednesday. The stock has increased 18% YTD.
- [By Chris Dier-Scalise]
Despite reaching a high of $62, a level it hasn't reached since the 2008 financial crisis, Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) was a net sell during May. Consumer goods company Newell Brands Inc (NYSE: NWL) was also net sold despite nearing a 52-week high during the month after spiking on a solid earnings report, a level it has maintained into June.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
On a market cap weighted basis,Wal-Mart trades at a discount to the average of a group of large-cap consumer staples companies (Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), Newell Brands (NWL), Procter & Gamble (PG), and Colgate-Palmolive (CL) – covered by Morgan Stanley Analyst Dara Mohsenian). Wal-Mart’s FTM relative P/E multiple is currently 0.76x vs. the 0.89x average over the last 15 years.
- [By WWW.THESTREET.COM]
Cramer and the AAP team are looking at the rally in Newell Brands (NWL) and offering a technical point of view to pair with their fundamental long-term analysis of the company. Find out what they are telling their investment club members; get a free trial subscription to Action Alerts PLUS.
- [By Chris Lange]
The S&P 500 stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Wednesday was Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE: NWL) which traded downover 3% at $47.10. The stocks 52-week range is $43.43 to $55.08. Volume was nearly 17 million versus the daily average of 3.3 million shares.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Last week, Tiffany (TIF) CFO Ralph Nicolettileft the luxury retailer for Newell Brands (NWL). Wells Fargo’s Ike Boruchow and team argued that Nicoletti’s departure is “an untimely distraction” for a stock that can’t afford one:
Top Gold Stocks To Watch Right Now: SPDR Blmbg Barclays Em Mkts Lcl Bd ETF (EBND)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]
DWFI also holds the SPDR Barclays Emerging Markets Local Bond ETF (NYSE: EBND), SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE: BWX) and the SPDR Barclays Intermediate Term Corporate Bond ETF (NYSE: ITR).
Top Gold Stocks To Watch Right Now: Knight Transportation, Inc.(KNX)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Rich Smith]
Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX) is merging with Swift Transportation (NYSE:SWFT) to build a $5 billion trucking behemoth — and Wall Street thinks that’s a good thing.
Top Gold Stocks To Watch Right Now: Digital Realty Trust Inc.(DLR)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Lisa Levin]
DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. (NYSE: DFT) shares shot up 10 percent to $61.07. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR) announced plans to merge with DuPont Fabros.
- [By Benzinga News Desk]
Last year was brutal for hedge fund investors — but you wouldn’t know it from the fund managers’ paychecks: Link
ECONOMIC DATA
The MBA’s index of mortgage application activity for the latest week is schedule for release at 7:00 a.m. ET.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.
ANALYST RATINGS
Jefferies Upgraded ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) from Hold to Buy
JPMorgan Upgraded Clovis Oncology (NASDAQ: CLVS) From Neutral to Overweight
Morgan Stanley Upgrades TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) From Equal-Weight to Overweight
Macquarie Downgraded Disney (NYSE: DIS) from Outperform to Neutral
Deutsche Bank Downgraded AvalonBay (NYSE: AVB) from Buy to Hold
Wells Fargo Downgrades Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) From Outperform To Market PerformThis is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here or email minutes@benzinga.com.
