Treasury yields were a a new low and gold approached a new high on global economic fears, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down more than 52 points, or about 4.4%, to below 1,142. Released this morning was data that investor outflows from mutual funds are at September 2008 levels. Declining stocks outnumber advancing stocks by better than a 10-to-1 ratio.
NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) was down by around 20% to under $33.40, losing more than $8 per share after its numbers disappointed Wall Street in which more bad news was not needed. Three buy recommendations were reiterated for NetApp this morning. Up almost 2% for the week, NetApp is down about 20% for the month. The entire tech sector is being battered in early trading.
Joining its tech brethren in heading south was LSI Corp. (NYSE:LSI), losing more than 8.4% per share to under $6.40, shedding about 60 cents per share. LIS released its 10Q this morning which, along with a negative report, sent it in full tailspin. LSI is up about 5% for the week and 6% for the month.
Citigroup (NYSE:C) was off by about 9% to under $26.80 a share, losing close to $3. The financial sector is the worst-performing group in the market. Down more than 20% for the month and almost 30% for the quarter, Citigroup now has a beta of 2.52 — with the market as a whole at a 1, such is the volatility in financials. Citigroup is close to trading at its year low.
PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM), the big home builder, was down more than 10%, about 50 cents, to go below $4.15 a share. Pulte is down more than 30% for the month, 30% for the quarter and 40% for the year. There have been several negative reports about housing in recent days, with the most recent being that housing starts fell in July by 1.5%.
Consul Energy (NYSE:CNX) was up, one of only two stocks on the S&P 500 in early-morning action, to over $43.20, picking up about 80 cents a share. Consul Energy announced the sale of half its interest in the Marcellus shale acreage for $3.4 billion to Noble Energy. Consul is up almost 11% for the week.
Up early but staying flat around $24.76 was National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:NSM). Recent releases of new research for a single-wire 16-bit digital-to-analog converter was propping up the stock. National Semiconductor is up almost 90% for the year.
Jonathan Yates does not own any of the stocks mentioned in this article.
