Stock market news, July 8, 2014: The Dow Jones Industrial Average today (Tuesday) plummeted more than 150 points in the morning, and closed the day with a 117.59-point loss. This is the largest one-day decline in nearly two months, as investors remain cautious ahead of corporate earnings season. Eight of the ten S&P sectors were down on the day, with utilities and consumer discretionary stocks as the lone gainers.
Money Morning's Defense and Tech Specialist Michael Robinson had been predicting that the Dow Jones would break 17,000 and then experience a pullback. He appeared on FOX Business' "Varney & Co." this afternoon and told investors the most important factors to watch - and what they can expect from the stock market now.
Here's the scorecard from today's trading session:
Bad Day for Tech: Online and technology stocks took a beating this afternoon as a sell-off continues. Shares of Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) and Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) each slipped more than 6% on the day. This is the largest drop for Internet stocks since May. It appears that more investors are concerned that these two companies are trading at 150 times earnings. Shares of Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), and Groupon Inc. (Nasdaq: GRPN) also slipped by more than 2% on the day.
Inversion Season: In an effort to lower its tax burden and take advantage of laws in Ireland and the United Kingdom, U.S. drug manufacturer AbbVie (Nasdaq: ABBV) hiked its cash-and-stock bid for Shire Plc. (Nasdaq: SHPG) to $51 billion, an 11% increase from its earlier bid in May. Shares of AbbVie were down nearly 3% on the day.
Ford in trouble, a damaging Tesla trademark infringement, and two more big banks cited for bad behavior? Keep reading to get these top stories, plus access to three of our latest investing pieces for Money Morning Members only...
Another Day, Another Recall: As concerns about public safety continue to mount, Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) announced plans to recall 100,610 vehicles in North America. Though the company is addressing six different concerns, nearly 92,000 of the vehicles could have problems with the front axle due to an installation problem on the factory floor. Shares of Ford were down more than 1% on the day.
Hold Off on China: Tesla stock (Nasdaq: TSLA) fell nearly 2% on news that the company is being sued for trademark infringement in China. This is a stunning revelation for the company and could curb Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's goal of rapid expansion in eastern Asia. This comes just a day after the company was sued by a shareholder, who claims that Musk and the board of directors lied about the safety of the Model S vehicle.
Here We Go Again: Just weeks after the United States settled with BNP Paribas (OTC: BNPQY) over the bank's violations of international sanctions, American regulators are targeting two other banks on similar charges. Reuters reports that U.S. authorities are engaged in settlement talks with Germany's Commerzbank AG (OTCMKTS ADR: CRZBY) and Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB). U.S. regulators allege that the banks participated in lending to nations that were sanctioned in the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012.
Now our experts share some of the most important investment moves to make based on today's market trading - for Money Morning Members only:
The U.S. Export Ban is a Windfall for these Companies: After more than four decades, it looks like America is getting back into the oil export business again. For the first time since the 1970s, Washington has opened the door to sending more U.S. crude abroad. And these companies are poised to profit big from the announcement...
The "20% Catalyst" That Will Send These Shares into the Stratosphere: In a surprise move, France also said it would take a 20% stake in French engineering giant Alstom SA (OTC ADR: ALSMY). It's a complicated deal. But it could serve as an additional "catalyst" for the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) share-price rally we've been predicting. Here's why...
How to Tap Big Profits in That "Other" Bioscience Niche: There's an approach to making profits in bioscience that doesn't rely on breakthrough discoveries, expensive drug trials, or constant cash infusions to fuel its engine. That's what makes the company we'll look at today such an attractive investment. Welcome to the lucrative world of generics...