Why Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX), Yelp Inc. (YELP) and Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) Are 3 of Today’s Worst Stocks

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Tuesday was more than a little volatile for stocks. Down as much as 1.1% at one point, the S&P 500 managed to end the session up 0.6%, at 2,081.34. It wasn’t news, but rather a lack of news that let the market wander.

Why Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX), Yelp Inc. (YELP) and Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) Are 3 of Today's Worst StocksIt wasn’t a surprisingly bullish day for every stock, however. Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP), Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX), or Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) were among the hardest hit on Tuesday. Here’s why.

Yelp (YELP)

As if Yelp didn’t have enough disappointment to digest last week, the headwinds kicked up again yesterday to push the stock deeper into new 52-week low territory.

Last week’s tough news was the announcement that Yelp was no longer for sale, which some had seen as the last great hope for making the company truly viable for the long haul. The new week started on the wrong foot, with Piper Jaffray cutting its target price on YELP from $46 to $40.

The final straw came today, however, when it was reported that equity research firm believes Google has recently altered is search algorithm in a manner that will ultimately crimp the amount of web traffic that Yelp garners.

YELP shares finished the session down more than 3%.

Tesla Motors (TSLA)

In retrospect, the downgrade of Tesla Motors can’t be a complete surprise. The stock gained nearly 50% in less than four months, and though Q2 deliveries were better than anticipated, it’s tough for a stock to venture into new-high territory when profits are still barely on the horizon.

And yet, the downgrade of TSLA stock by Deutsche Bank did seem to come as a surprise, in light of the 4% tumble Tesla took today.

Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache opined:

“We’ve been bullish on Tesla’s prospects, based on the company’s electric vehicle opportunity… [and] we believe Tesla could become a dominant player. But at this point, Tesla’s shares appear to already reflect this opportunity.”

Though Deutsche Bank downgraded TSLA from a “buy” to a “hold,” Lache did up his target price from $245 to $280 — above where Tesla stock finished the day.

Barrick Gold (ABX)

Another tough day for gold prices meant another tough day for gold mining stocks, with Barrick Gold dishing out the most pain to most investors. Gold futures fell 1.5%, to a price near $1,154 per ounce.

The strength of the U.S. dollar gets most of the credit/blame. In that gold is priced in U.S. dollars and the Greek debt debacle has put downward pressure on the euro, upward pressure is being applied to the greenback, which in turn puts bearish pressure back on gold prices.

Changes in the price of gold have a leveraged impact on gold miners such as Barrick Gold, which see their margins rise and fall dollar for dollar when gold prices ebb and flow. Thanks to today’s sharp move lower in the value of gold, Barrick and its peers will make nearly $20 less per ounce of gold they dig up.

All told, ABX shares fell 5% on Tuesday.

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/07/barrick-gold-corporation-abx-yelp-inc-yelp-tesla-motors-inc-tsla-3-todays-worst-stocks/.

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