Today was just a weird day as we sold off, but marginally compared to elsewhere. Parts of Asia and Europe, as well as Latin America, saw their equity markets hit hard over fears of a pandemic swine flu outbreak. Many traders feel this is a notion that will pass as a footnote rather than as a catastrophe, and this was a very light day for data. Sheila Bair at FDIC did manage to call the bank liquidity crisis over. Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 8,025.00 -51.29 (-0.64%)
S&P 500 857.51 -8.72 (-1.01%)
Nasdaq 1,679.41 -14.88 (-0.88%)
Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) had more negative public relations ahead of its annual shareholder meeting Wednesday. The bank was being accused by John Thain of being very involved in the bonus approval process for Merrill Lynch at the end of 2008 and Ken Lewis is also being said to have sold the CFO a Porsche on the cheap and was apparently on vacation at critical time at the bank. Shares were off 1.3% at $8.98 ahead of the close, but shares had been off 3% at one point.
General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) soared on news that shareholders won't be wiped out entirely. They only have about 1%, but they live. Fritz Henderson also announced more job cuts and more factory closures as part of its restructuring. The stock was up 21% at $2.06 before the close.
GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE: GSK) was up big today after the swine flu outbreak. It is Glaxo's Relenza which is an approved treatment from the DHS.CDC that helped to push shares higher. Glaxo was up 8% at $31.69 ahead of the close.
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) posted earnings better than expected earnings at $1.22 EPS vs. $1.17 estimates and raised its 2009 forecast to $6.10 to $6.20 EPS vs. $5.90 estimates. This puts the forward P/E ratio of the health insurer at roughly 5.0 for all of 2009. Shares were up almost 7% at $29.26 ahead of the close.
iShares MSCI Mexico Investable Market Index (NASDAQ: EWW) was the ETF that tracks Mexico and it was off substantially as that country deals with massive shut downs on the swine flu news. Shares of this ETF were down 7% at $30.50 shortly before the close.
Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) traded up on the Broadcom settlement, even though it is Qualcomm paying the $891 million. This wipes away years of litigation. The company has a loss on the legal settlement, but it also raised its outlook as a result. Shares were up almost 4% at $42.94 ahead of the close.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) was trading down throughout the day on an analyst downgrade. It was UBS that cut the rating, down to a SELL rating on valuations. Shares were off by 2.5% at $19.26 late in the day.
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