The top stocks to watch today (Tuesday) are Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE: VRX), Gordmans Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: GMAN), and MoneyGram International Inc. (Nasdaq: MGI).
Today is the first day of the two-day FOMC meeting. The expectation is that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates tomorrow afternoon at the conclusion of the meeting. This is going to put markets in a wait-and-see pattern leading up to the announcement.
While the markets wait to see the announcement of a rate hike, the healthcare sector is likely to see a drop today. The CBO released its findings about Trumpcare, the replacement to Obamacare, yesterday afternoon. It is estimated the new healthcare bill will leave more than 24 million people who are currently covered without coverage. The healthcare bill will also shrink over $300 billion from the budget deficit.
Now that we know what's moving markets, here are the three top stocks to watch today...
Top Stocks to Watch Today: Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE: VRX)
Valeant stock is down 12% in early morning trading after activist investor Bill Ackman dumped his stake in the pharmaceutical company.
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Ackman, founder of Pershing Square hedge fund, is selling 27.2 million shares of Valeant. Ackman will also vacate his board position at Valeant.
"At its current market value, the Valeant position represented 1.5% to 3% of the various Pershing Square funds; however, the investment required a disproportionately large amount of time and resources. As a result, we elected to sell our investment and realize a large tax loss which will enable us to dedicate more time to our other portfolio companies and new investment opportunities," Pershing Square said in a statement yesterday.
VRX stock is currently trading at $12.11 for a loss of 16.6% so far this year.
Top Stocks to Watch Today: Gordmans Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: GMAN)
Gordmans stock is up 19% in early morning trading after announcing bankruptcy last night.
In the filing, Gordmans said it intends to liquidate its assets. That's another way of saying sell everything and close down for good.
The likely reason for the price bump is that short sellers are buying the stock to close out their positions.
GMAN stock is currently trading at $0.07 for a loss of almost 90% year to date.
Top Stocks to Watch Today: MoneyGram International Inc. (Nasdaq: MGI)
MoneyGram stock is up 24% in early morning trading after receiving a buyout offer.
Euronet Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: EEFT) offered $15.20 per share, starting a bidding war with Ant Financial. Euronet's total bid price was about $807 million.
Ant Financial offered $13.25 per share on Jan. 26. The company was offering to buy all shares of MoneyGram common stock.
MGI stock is trading at $12.66 a share for a gain of 7% so far this year.
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