Please Don't Wake the Sleeping Bear
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With stocks down sharply across the board Thursday, investors are reminded that markets don't go in one direction. The bigger question is if this is just a healthy pause in a continued march higher, or if it is something more sinister.
Just after 3PM ET, the Dow is down 210, the S&P 500 is down 23 and the Nasdaq is down 60.
Today's reasons for the decline gives investors insight into the market's worries:
1. The world's largest retailer Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) missed top-line numbers, posting revenue of $116.2 billion versus the consensus estimate of $118.57 billion. A U.S. comp decline of 0.3 percent in the quarter was also concerning.
2. Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) reported an in-line quarter, when investors were expecting a 'beat', guidance was lackluster and maybe more concerning on the macro level was the company is slicing up to 4,000 jobs, or 5% of its workforce.
3. Bond yields are on the rise again. The 10-year treasury tapped 2.823% early Thursday, its highest level since August 2011. Rising bond yields are hardly ever good for stocks.
4. Tension and violence in Egypt threatens to re-ignite turmoil in the region which could put upward pressure on oil prices.
5. Gold is back in favor today with a curious mid-day activity, spiking the precious metal higher by 2%.
6. There continues to be underlying concerns about the timing and size of Fed tapering. A $10-$20 billion haircut to the current $85 billion monthly bond buying total seems to be the growing consensus, with timing by year end.
Below is a video today of a sleeping bear on a Naples, FL family's patio. Please don't wake him...
NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral
Just after 3PM ET, the Dow is down 210, the S&P 500 is down 23 and the Nasdaq is down 60.
Today's reasons for the decline gives investors insight into the market's worries:
1. The world's largest retailer Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) missed top-line numbers, posting revenue of $116.2 billion versus the consensus estimate of $118.57 billion. A U.S. comp decline of 0.3 percent in the quarter was also concerning.
2. Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) reported an in-line quarter, when investors were expecting a 'beat', guidance was lackluster and maybe more concerning on the macro level was the company is slicing up to 4,000 jobs, or 5% of its workforce.
3. Bond yields are on the rise again. The 10-year treasury tapped 2.823% early Thursday, its highest level since August 2011. Rising bond yields are hardly ever good for stocks.
4. Tension and violence in Egypt threatens to re-ignite turmoil in the region which could put upward pressure on oil prices.
5. Gold is back in favor today with a curious mid-day activity, spiking the precious metal higher by 2%.
6. There continues to be underlying concerns about the timing and size of Fed tapering. A $10-$20 billion haircut to the current $85 billion monthly bond buying total seems to be the growing consensus, with timing by year end.
Below is a video today of a sleeping bear on a Naples, FL family's patio. Please don't wake him...
NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral
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