Dow Jones Today Dips on Inflation Fears, Plus 9 Other Top Stories

After hitting record highs, today was not so good. Here are the closing numbers:

DOW: 16,613.97, -0.6%
S&P 500: 1,888.52, -0.5%
NASDAQ: 4,100.63, -0.7%

The Dow Jones today slumped from record highs on concerns of rising inflation. Producer prices increased 0.6% in April, the largest increase since September 2012. Economists had predicted a rise of just 0.2%.

Here are the top stories moving the Dow Jones today:

Citigroup makes news in the stock market today

  • Banks Behaving Badly: Reuters reports that Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) has fired 11 more employees, including four senior executives, over a $400 million oil fraud scandal that rocked its Mexico unit, Banamex. The firings include the division's two business heads. Citi's CEO released an internal memo this morning that explained how these executives failed to prevent bogus loans and stop rampant fraud in the oil loan scheme.
  • The Bottom Is Near: Shares of Sony Corp. (NYSE ADR: SNE) slumped by more than 7%, after the company announced it will likely report a second consecutive net loss for this fiscal year. The company underwent a massive restructuring earlier this year in an effort to contain large debts and to shed unprofitable business divisions.
  • Battery Problems: Shares of Plug Power Inc. (Nasdaq: PLUG) slumped by more than 8% after the company reported poor earnings. The downturn also impacted other companies in the battery markets, including FuelCell Energy Inc. (Nasdaq: FCEL) and Ballard Power Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BLDP). Plug Power, a fuel-cell technology provider, was the Nasdaq's top performer last year.

  • Retail Problems Continue: Shares of Sears Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: SHLD) slipped by more than 3% on news that the company aims to sell 51% of its Canadian subsidiary. The company recently spun off its Lands' End Inc. business in April. Shares of Sears Canada, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, rose by more than 4% today.
  • Time to Turn High-Tech "Rust" into Gold: In his more than three decades of working with Silicon Valley companies, Michael Robinson found high-tech "rust" may be a lot less obvious and much more insidious. But while this "rust" often takes down companies, it happens to be setting up three cash-generating firms that offer big opportunities today...
  • This One Factor Will Isolate Huge Winners... Quickly: If you're a do-it-yourself type of investor you might be overwhelmed trying to make heads or tails of all the information at your disposal. But let's take a moment to demystify how to use a stock screen - and then we'll finish up with a "cherry on the top." It's an additional input that will take you quickly to tremendous gains...

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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