The Dow Jones today saw its sixth straight loss, down 24.5 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 clung to gains in the closing minutes. The S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) dropped nearly 4% on the day.
What moved the Dow: The Dow rebounded from early losses due to stronger than expected economic data this morning. Last week, Americans filing for unemployment benefits hit a 14-year low. Industrial production from U.S. factories jumped 1% last month, its strongest gain since November 2012.
Most notable economic news: This afternoon, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard argued that the U.S. central bank should consider delaying plans to slash its Quantitative Easing program. Bullard cited economic weakness and light inflation expectations as the reason for his argument.
Today's scorecard:
Dow: 16,117.24, -24.50 (-0.15%)
S&P 500: 1,862.76, +0.27 (0.01%)
Nasdaq : 4,217.39, +2.07 (0.05%)
Here's a breakdown of today's other top stories and stock performances:
- A Tough Sell: Shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) slipped by 1.3% as investors were lukewarm about the company's introduction of new iPads. This morning, the company unveiled the new iPad 2 Air, a thinner version of its popular product. It also introduced its new iMac and released its operating system "Yosemite" available by free download. Finally, the company officially set Oct. 20 as the date that the company will introduce Apple Pay to the markets. Go here for our full coverage of Apple stock.
- Earnings Today: After the bell, tech giant Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, GOOGL) reported earnings of $6.35 per share, missing consensus estimates of $6.53 per share. For a review of what investors expected ahead of the bell, read these five important details of today's announcement.
- Shale Sale: Shares of Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) soared nearly 17% on news that it planned to divest its Marcellus and Utica shale acreage. The company is selling more than 400,000 net acres and nearly 1,500 wells to Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE: SWN) for $5.375 billion. Shares of Southwestern Energy slipped more than 10% on the day.
- Stream Slump: Shares of NetFlix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) slipped by more than 19% today (full earnings look here); however, the stock rallied after falling as much as 31% in premarket hours. The streaming giant reported weak quarterly earnings after hours yesterday and raised new concerns about subscriber growth. Its earnings report fell on the same day that HBO announced a game-changing plan to create its own streaming service in 2015. Share of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), the parent company of HBO, were up more than 4% today at its soon-to-be rival's expense. Here's our full story on the major industry shift signaled in HBO's streaming news.
- Another Day, Another Recall: Shares of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE: FCAU) were down 0.2% this afternoon on news the company would recall roughly 900,000 automobiles. The Chrysler division announced that recalled cars and SUVs are at the risk of fire due to alternator problems. The company's stock, which reappeared on the New York Stock Exchange this week, is still trading below its introduction price of $9 per share.
- Buyback Boom: Shares of The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) were up more than 1.5% on news that the company has approved at $500 million stock buyback program.
Now for three of today's best profit opportunities from our investing experts - for Money Morning Members only (Not a Member? Sign up now - it's free):
- How to Get a Piece of Wall Street Profits Without the Wall Street Corruption: There's simply no limit to how far Wall Street will go to make a buck. It's no wonder. With corporate offenses and "bad behavior" routinely going unpunished, perpetrators have developed a sense of immunity. But we can strike back against banks that are behaving badly. And here's how we're going to play a non-bank investment against a rigged services industry...
- The Best Way to Profit from Crude Oil Prices Right Now: In today's environment, picking winning oil stocks is more about where a company drills, how it manages its assets and operations, and the broader flow of supply and demand. In this case, it's all about selecting the right target - companies that are built to weather the inevitable dips in the price of crude. And there are plenty of them out there...
- The Profit Opportunity in Hong Kong's Unrest: Most investors haven't got a clue about what Hong Kong's riots represent, let alone the investment potential that's being unleashed there. As a result, they're going to miss out on some really terrific profit opportunities. But before we get to the best way to play this, understanding what's driving the unrest is key...
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.