Stock Market News Today: Stocks Slumping After Huge Week

Stock market news today, Oct. 14, 2013: The government shutdown and unresolved debt ceiling crisis continue to weigh on stocks today as lawmakers show few signs of reaching an agreement.

Nearly 800,000 government employees are still furloughed and about 1 million asked to work without pay as the shutdown enters a third week with no resolution on the federal budget nor an agreement on the debt ceiling.

As the market opened today, the S&P 500 was down 0.63% at 1,692 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.64% at 15,140 points.

With stocks sinking, gold is rebounding to 1.1% to $1,282.60 an ounce after closing Friday at its lowest price in three months. Treasuries are also up, and the dollar is down versus the euro.

Crude oil for November delivery is down $0.58 per barrel to $101.44 today.

Stock Market News Today: Healthcare

Several healthcare stocks are making noteworthy gains this morning.

Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc. (NYSEMKT: PLX) was up about 3% in morning trade after announcing initial positive results in its phase 1 clinical trial of its Oral GCD drug in patients with Gaucher's disease.

Protalix said oral GCD was well-tolerated and the active enzyme was detected in patients' blood circulation.

And Antares Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ATRS) is up more than 8% at $4.91 in morning trade after the biopharmaceutical company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its OTREXUP injection, which treats severe active rheumatoid arthritis.

Among the significant downside movers in the stock market news today, Coronado Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: CNDO) has plunged about 67% to $1.89 after it said its phase 2 clinical trial evaluating its TSO drug in 250 patients with moderate-to-severe Crohn's disease didn't meet its primary endpoint of improving response. It also didn't meet the key secondary endpoint of remission.

CNDO's lows today are less than half the stock's previous 52-week low of $4.00.

Technology Movers Today: Facebook, Netflix

In technology stocks news, Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) is down about 2% today after it said it bought Israeli startup Onavo, which makes data compression software and offers a variety of analytic services for smartphone applications.

FB might be paying $150 million to $200 million for the company, according to a StreetInsider.com report.

Also, Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) is up 4% at $313.12 on reports that it's in discussions with major cable-television operators to add its streaming video service to set-top boxes. Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) were among those involved in discussions, according to Bloomberg.

In other news, Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: KLIC) is up more than 8% today after a Barron's article over the weekend said the company, which manufactures capital equipment for semiconductor devices, holds hidden value. Shares marked a new 52-week high today of $13.09.

Stock Downgrades Today: Ericsson, Expedia

Among the analyst actions today, Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERIC) and Expedia (EXPE) are both weighed on downgrades by major firms.

Ericsson is down about 3.5% at $12.70 after Barclays Plc downgraded the stock to "Underweight" from "Equal Weight." Barclay's expects Q3 earnings to disappoint.

And Expedia was downgraded by Deutsche Bank to "Hold" from "Buy," with a price target cut by 22%.

Stocks to Watch in Earnings: Packaging Corp.

After the closing bell today, Packaging Corp. of America (NYSE: PKG) plans to report its third-quarter earnings. Shares are trading fairly flat in regular session. Analysts expect $0.89 per share on $829 million in revenue.

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