Stock market today, July 24, 2014:U.S. markets were mixed Thursday on lackluster economic data. Industrial giant Caterpillar Inc.'s (NYSE: CAT) poor quarterly report offset gains from Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB). Shares of Caterpillar were off more than 3% after the company raised its yearly outlook but posted a quarterly decline. Shares of Facebook were up more than 6.5% hitting a new intraday record. The social media company now has a larger market cap than AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO).
Here's the scorecard from today's trading session:
Apparel Surge: Today's biggest winner in the S&P 500 was Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA). UA stock popped more than 13% to an all-time high on news that the company's quarterly revenue increased by 34%. The firm raised its forward guidance for 2014, as it anticipates strong growth in its footwear and international divisions.
Growth Cuts: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced it again has cut its global growth forecast for 2014 to 3.4%, down from its April projection. Still, the IMF held its 4% expectation for 2015. Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, said that they anticipate a market overreaction when the U.S. Federal Reserve tightens its stimulus efforts and possibly raises interest rates.
Merger Mania: Online property giant Zillow Inc. (Nasdaq: Z) is reportedly looking at purchasing its rival Trulia Inc. (NYSE: TRLA) and valuating the company for as much as $2 billion. A deal, which could be announced as soon as next week, would combine the two largest property websites in the United States. Shares of Zillow rose more than 15% on the news, while shares of Trulia were up more than 32%. Combined, the two sites entertained 85 million unique visitors in June, or 89% of all real estate traffic.
Daily Data Dump: Good news came in the employment market, as jobless claims fell to their lowest levels since February 2006. However, the housing market saw new home sales slump by 8.1% in June. This is the biggest monthly drop in nearly 12 months.
Banks Behaving Badly: Investment bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) announced plans to pay $275 million to resolve fraud allegations over mortgage-backed securities sold prior to the 2008 financial crisis. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concluded that Morgan Stanley misled investors on two residential securities that the company underwrote and sold. The SEC also said that Morgan Stanley altered delinquency rates on subprime loans, which provided a much rosier picture of the U.S. housing market.
Now our experts share some of the most important investment moves to make based on today's market trading - for Money Morning Members only:
A Clear Way to Profit from a Graying Population: The Baby Boom generation, which includes everyone born from 1946 through 1964, is now entering retirement age (65) at a rate of 10,000 per day. Naturally, the more seniors there are, the more demand there will be on the medical community for better and safer therapies, and more ways to profit on this trend...
Don't Hesitate on This Industry Boom That's Already Here: If you follow the headlines, you'd think the last place to invest your hard-earned money is in healthcare. But here's the thing. As technology investors, our job is to look beyond the politics of the moment and take a look at what others may be missing. Turns out, if you picked the right healthcare investment over the last two years, you would have beaten the S&P 500's returns by more than 50%. And here's why...
Act on This Massive Profit "Spark" Ahead of the Big Boys: It's easy to see why investors pile into a company's stock on the heels of highly successful products, technologies, or services. For small caps, finding the right leader can prove a more critical "spark" to major profits. This is why you should follow Money Morning Small-Cap Investing Specialist Sig Riggs' advice and use these three steps to make big gains...
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.