Stock Market News Today Why We Predicted This 10% Gainer Would Soar

Stock market news today focuses on winners and losers in the tech and consumer spaces, as well as how the S&P 500 will come off of its largest weekly decline since June.

Last week was tough for stocks since this year has been filled with rallies. Stocks fell as investors tried to understand the timing of the Fed's tapering of its bond-buying program.

Surprisingly, the market still seems very sensitive to any news on the Fed cutbacks.

This week, the market may continue to react to any news from the Fed, although other economic indicators are likely to be in the foreground of investors' minds.

Stock market news today starts with Japan, which we learned saw gross domestic product rise 2.6% at an annualized pace from April to June - well short of the 3.6% growth economists expected. The Nikkei was down more than 5% last week and is down another roughly 1% this morning.

Some of the U.S. stocks taking a beating last week -- including J.C. Penney -- will be among the stocks to watch this week. J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) opened last week at about $14.50 per share and saw some volatility, especially on Thursday and Friday, as the executives and even a major shareholder exchanged a public war of words. J.C. Penney hit a 52-week low of $12.34 on Friday. Shares are flat in afternoon trading.

Stocks that outperformed the S&P 500 should stay on your radar this week. Keep an eye on Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA), which enjoyed a major rally last week after a surprisingly profitable second quarter. This morning, TSLA shares are down as investors begin to suspect a bubble that will result in significant volatility in the months ahead.

And among the big headliners today: BlackBerry Ltd. (Nasdaq: BBRY). In fact, Money Morning Capital Wave Strategist Shah Gilani alerted his Capital Wave Forecast investors on Friday that as far as BBRY is concerned, he "smelled a deal brewing - and it smells like money" - and he nailed it.

A trading day later, the stock is up more than 10%.

The reason for the move - as Gilani predicted Friday - is the company announced it is considering a sale.

Fairfax Financial CEO Prem Watsa, who is resigning from Blackberry's board to avoid a conflict of interest as the company explores a sale, said he has no current intention of selling his shares in BlackBerry.

Stock Market Today: Earnings

It's a significant week in consumer stocks to watch as several major retailers are on tap to report their earnings.

Among them, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M). Wal-Mart on Friday was trading near the top of its 52-week range at about $77. Macy's is also trading near the top of its 52-week range at $48.

In all, about 13 companies are set to report their quarterly earnings this week. Other stocks to watch in earnings this week are Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) , Kohl's Corp. (Nyse: KSS) and Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN).

So far this earnings season, many of the companies are indeed reporting earnings beats, but revenue is falling short of estimates. This means while companies are faring well this earnings season, investors should be aware that some of this growth is in the form of cost-cutting and is unsustainable.

Stocks to Watch: Metals

Gold stocks are among the stocks to watch this week, specifically Yamana Gold Inc. (NYSE: AUY) and Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG), which are both trading significantly higher this morning amid a 2% increase in gold prices as investors seek safe haven investments amid the broader declining stock markets. AUY and GG are both up more than 5% this morning.

Stocks to Watch: Technology

The technology sector is yielding several stocks to watch.

Perion Network (Nasdaq: PERI) has entered into, and launched, a multi-year search and distribution relationship with Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Through this agreement, Yahoo!'s search marketplace and search experience is available to Perion's customer base. PERI is down about 13% in afternoon trading.

Also, WebMD Health (Nasdaq: WBMD) shares are among the stocks to watch today as the company says it began a tender offer to purchase up to 5 million shares of its stock for $34 each. It represents about 10% of shares outstanding. WebMD today has named David J. Schlanger as CEO and Steven L. Zatz, M.D. as president. Schlanger has been interim CEO since May.

Finally, Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS) says it plans to offer $100 million aggregate principal amount of its convertible senior notes due 2018 in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers. It also expects to grant the initial purchasers of the notes a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $15 million aggregate principal amount of the notes to cover over-allotments, if any. RMBS is down about 3.6% this afternoon.

More can't-miss stock market news today: This story is among the most important deciding factors in our economic future - in fact, it's part of the biggest money story of our lifetimes...