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Today started out as a down day and it stayed that way. The market tried to recover mid-morning, but that failed. The financial sector was under pressure from guidance and from fears of more reprisals out of Washington D.C. that never seem to go away. The rest of the market pressure was on earnings and a pressure of earnings warnings hitting the stocks. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 10,626.81 -37.18 (-0.35%)
S&P 500 1,136.21 -10.77 (-0.94%)
Nasdaq 2,282.31 -30.10 (-1.30%)
Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades
Aetna (AET) issued a surprise earnings warning today for 2010. A filing showed that it still expects to post $2.75 EPS for 2009 but earnings in 2010 would be slightly less than the $3.09 EPS expected from Thomson Reuters. Shares were down 6.6% at $30.58 late in the trading day.
Alcoa (AA) fell today, although the company might feel rather lucky that the drop was not worse after a run of 200% from lows in 2009 and some 75% since last summer. The aluminum producer posted a loss of $0.27 EPS (or $0.01 EPS on a pre-item basis) versus Thomson Reuters estimates of $0.06 EPS. Shares were down 11% at $15.52 late in the trading day.
Bank of America (BAC) got hit again by a new SEC charge about the Merrill Lynch loss disclosure. Remember that Al Capone was brought down by tax evasion, not the dozens of other crimes he was guilty of. Shares were down 3.8% at $16.28 late in the trading day.
Chevron (CVX) issued a surprise earnings warning, although it is subjective in energy stocks. The upstream exploration and production are in-line, but its downstream refining margins are the real bomb. This will cause an earnings miss, yet shares were down less than 1% with a loss of -0.9% at $80.13 shortly before the close.
Electronic Arts (ERTS) got clipped again on yet another earnings warning issued last night. The company just can't get it right and the sector remains pressured. Shares were down almost 8% at $16.82 shortly before the market's close today.
KB Home (KBH) posted a positive net earnings report, but this was after a tax benefit. The company's disappointment was in its orders. Shares were down 4.5% at $15.63 late in the day.
Hartford Financial Services (HIG) was one of the few winners today after the P&C insurer raised its guidance significantly and it would have probably done better if the market were up or had the unrelated Aetna warning not come up and had Bank of America not been under new SEC charges. Shares were up 3.9% at $27.20 right before the close.
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