Dow Jones Today: Markets Slammed on Amazon, Ford’s Friday Slump

Dow Jones Today: A sharp Friday selloff turned markets negative for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 139.87 points to finish the week at 16,361.78. The Nasdaq dropped 72.78 points to finish at 4,075.56 and the S&P 500 was down 15.20 points to close at 1,863.41.

Consumer discretionary stocks like Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) were off big in afternoon trading. Ford announced quarterly profits fell by 39% due to currency devaluations in South America and an increased allocation of money to fix defects.

In addition, uncertainty over Russia's decision on how to handle Ukraine is wearing on investors.

Dow Jones today Here's your recap of today's major market events...

  1. Pandora Gets Crushed: Despite strong earnings, Pandora Media (NYSE: P) shares were down more than 16% on Friday afternoon. The company is in the process of raising its subscription cost to $4.99 per month and has pushed most of its revenues back into its marketing in an attempt to protect market share. The company is also engaged in a huge legal battle with record labels over royalties for songs released prior to February 15, 1972.
  2. A Bad Day for Online Retail: Amazon shares fell by as much as 10% on Friday after its earnings announcement. The company's stock is now down 25% from its all-time high, and investors are concerned about the firm's forward guidance. If you're curious about what you should do with the stock now, see what Money Morning's Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald has to say about AMZN stock.
  3. A Shakeup on the S&P 500: Two new companies will be joining the S&P 500 Index very soon. Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) will replace Beam Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAM), which was purchased by Japan's Suntory. Navient Corp. (Nasdaq: NAVIV) will replace SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM), better known as Sallie Mae, on the Index.
  4. Banks Behaving Badly: A U.S. appeals court has told Barclays Plc. (NYSE: BCS) that it is reviving an old shareholder lawsuit over the bank's Libor interest rate manipulation. According to regulators, the suit addresses whether the bank understated borrowing costs for 16 months leading up to January 2009. The suit dates back to $453 million in settlements the bank reached with U.S. and British regulators in 2012.
  5. U.S. Energy Investing on the Rise: Energy investing will continue to be a huge boon for U.S. companies through the rest of the decade. General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) announced that it expects annual profit from its energy investments to reach nearly $800 million by 2020. The company's profits in the sector would double in the timeframe if true, and it seems highly possible given its increased commitment to adding oilfield pumps, wind turbines, and other projects through its "Ecomagination" program.

Friday's Top Three Profit Opportunities

  1. These Long-Term Profit Machines Just Went On Sale: As impressive as biotech stocks have been in recent years, there are three great opportunities in the sector with just as much, if not more, potential that just got cheap. They're all 2014 IPOs... and the market hasn't figured out just how profitable they'll be. These shares are in the discount bin right now, but they won't stay there long...
  1. Gas Prices Are Heading Up (and the Sector That Will Benefit): The price of gasoline is on the rise again. In fact, gas is up 2.4% over the past week alone. Today, the average retail price is 4 cents higher per gallon than a year ago. And you can bet that as we move into the "official" start of the summer driving season, the worst is yet to come. So here's how you can profit if you prepare today...
  1. How to Get in the Game and Profit: Once you make a decision to start investing, the next step is to make a commitment to become successful. You can't make money watching from the sidelines. But you can't be a deer in the headlights, either. That's why Shah Gilani is going to show you how to make that next step... and become a confident trader for the future.

About the Author

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.

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