For Nov. 4, 2015, here's the top stock market news and stocks to watch based on today's market moves...
How Did the Stock Market Do Today?
Dow Jones: 17,867.58; -50.57; -0.28%
S&P 500: 2,102.32; -7.47; -0.35%
Nasdaq: 5,142.48; -2.65; -0.05%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average today (Wednesday) slipped 50 points after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen hinted the possibility of an interest rate hike in December remained "live." Yellen cited improvements in the U.S. labor market and an expected return to the target inflation rate of 2%, according to her statement today. According to the CME Group's FedWatch, the odds of a rate hike jumped today from 52% to 58%.
Meanwhile, the October private employment report from ADP and Moody's Analytics showed private employers added 182,000 jobs in October, beating consensus expectations by a slim margin. With the ADP jobs report beating expectations of 180,000 positions for October, all eyes will now turn to Friday's official jobs report from the U.S. Labor Department.
Top Stock Market News Today
Stock Market News: Eight of 10 S&P sectors were in the red today, with energy stocks sinking more than 1.1%. Today's biggest losers were media stocks. This afternoon, shares of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) fell 6.6% on news the ratings for its primary domestic entertainment networks are falling over concerns of "cord cutting" by customers. The news dragged down shares of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), Viacom Inc. (Nasdaq: VIAB), and Discovery Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA), with the latter two falling by more than 6.5% on the day.
Oil in Focus: Oil prices slumped on Wednesday as concerns about rising crude inventories in the United States bolstered ongoing concerns regarding oversupply on the global markets. December WTI oil prices fell 3.3% to settle at $46.32 per barrel, while Brent crude prices dipped 3.9% to hit $48.58. U.S. crude inventories increased for the sixth straight week. The EIA inventory report was largely in line with a boost of 2.85 million barrels. The news was enough to offset supply concerns created by a major oil workers' strike in Brazil, a port shutdown in Libya, and a pipeline outage in the United States.
On Tap Tomorrow: On Thursday, six members of the Federal Reserve will give speeches and most will likely chime in on the possibility of an interest rate hike in December. On the data side, pay attention to weekly jobs claims - which are hovering near a 42-year low - and the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index. Companies reporting earnings on Thursday include Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS), Tripadvisor Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIP), Celgene Corp. (Nasdaq: CELG), Monster Beverage Corp. (Nasdaq: MNST), Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), and Weight Watchers International Inc. (NYSE: WTW).
Stocks to Watch: VRX, TGT, KORS, FB, TSLA, GRPN
Stocks to Watch No. 1, VRX: Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl. Inc. (NYSE: VRX) were down another 6% today after Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee have requested a hearing to discuss the company's pricing strategy. The Congressional Members sent a formal letter to committee chairman Jason Chaffetz to request the presence of CEO Michael Pearson of Valeant Pharmaceuticals and CEO Martin Shkreli of Turing Pharmaceuticals to discuss recent price increases for several of their prescription drugs.
Stocks to Watch No. 2, TGT: Shares of Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) slipped 1.1% after the company announced plans to shutter 13 stores around the country. The Big Box retailer decided to shut the stores due to falling profitability at the locations. The locations will close by the end of January 2016.
Stocks to Watch No. 3, KORS: Shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) gained more than 8.3% after it crushed fiscal second-quarter top and bottom line earnings by a wide margin. The company reported an EPS of $1.01 on revenue of $1.13 billion. That's well above Wall Street expectations of earnings of $0.89 per share on $1.07 billion in revenue.
Stocks to Watch No. 4, FB: After the bell, Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) will report third-quarter earnings. Wall Street analysts expect the social media giant to report earnings of $0.52 per share on revenue of $4.39 billion. Facebook stock was up 1.3% ahead of its post-market earnings report. Here's what to expect in the Facebook earnings report for Q3 2015, right here.
Stocks to Watch No. 5, TSLA: Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) surged 11% after the company said it will ramp up production of its electric cars in 2016 and released a bullish outlook during its Q3 earnings report. The company said it expects to deliver a record number of vehicles in the fourth quarter. Here's everything you need to know about the Q3 TSLA earnings report and what to expect from the stock in the future.
Stocks to Watch No. 6, GRPN: Shares of Groupon Inc. (Nasdaq: GRPN) cratered roughly 26% after the company released a very weak fourth-quarter earnings report and forecast weaker than expected revenue in 2016. The firm also announced CEO Eric Lefkosky will be resigning. The board has nominated COO Rich Williams to take on the role.
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.