Stocks Slip on Cliff Concerns — Wednesday’s IP Market Recap

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InvestorPlace Market RecapIt doesn’t really take very much to move investors from optimism to pessimism, particularly when it comes to the daily soap opera that is fiscal cliff negotiations.

Just the hint of  a snag in negotiations due to John Boehner’s “Plan B” proposition was enough to take the steam out of the two-day rally. The result was a broad retreat that snowballed throughout the day, ending with the Dow down 0.74% to 13,251.97, the S&P 500 down 0.76% to 1,435.81 and the Nasdaq off 0.33% to 3,044.37.

It wasn’t all bad news, though. Shares of enterprise software and hardware manufacturer Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) rose nearly 4% after the company announced adjusted net Q2 profit soared over 18% from a year ago. Oracle’s results did nothing for the tech sector, though, with most of its players either down a fraction or flat on the day.

Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) rose nearly 7% on news that the company will repurchase 200 million shares of its stock back from the U.S. Treasury by the end of this year for $27.50 a share, reducing the U.S. Treasury’s stake in GM down to 300 million shares.

Stock trading firm Knight Capital (NYSE:KCG) said it will merge with rival and partial owner Getco, just three weeks after Getco made its offer. Knight Capital stock gained just over 5% on the day.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) shares barely finished in the black today, clawing back slight losses after announcing lackluster earnings. It blamed sub-par revenue on Superstorm Sandy and weakness in Europe.

Global weight management and nutritional supplement marketing company Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) shares crumbled on the day after Pershing Square fund manager Bill Ackman called the company a “pyramid scheme” and announced he was shorting the stock. Shares closed over 12% in the red, while sector-mates Blyth (NYSE:BTH, -7.3%%),  NuSkin (NYSE:NUS, -9.01%) and USANA Healthcare (NASDAQ:USNA, -3.7%) fell in sympathy.

Three Up

  • Nii Holdings (NASDAQ:NIHD): Up 8.1% (55 cents) to $7.34
  • Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ:SWHC): Up 7.2% (56 cents) to $8.35
  • RadioShack (NYSE:RSH): Up 6.7% (15 cents) to $2.38

Three Down

  • Navistar (NYSE:NAV): Down 8.5% ($1.93) to $20.92
  • Deckers (NASDAQ:DECK): Down 4.3% ($1.62) to $35.72
  • Electronic Arts (NYSE:EA): Down 3.4% (50 cents) to $14.41

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2012/12/wednesdays-ip-market-recap-orcl-gm-kcg-fcx-hlf-nus/.

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