The back-and-forth day finally ended on a bullish note, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.12% to close at 1,884.09 in the shadow of a surprisingly high consumer confidence score. Healthcare stocks led the way, as the effect of Hillary Clinton’s tweet finally started to wear off.
It wasn’t a winning day for all stocks, though. Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Energy Transfer Equity LP (NYSE:ETE) were all hit rather hard. Here’s what happened.
Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE)
Unsatisfied by yesterday’s sharp selling of both, Energy Transfer Equity and Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE:WMB) were hit hard by the bears again today, with the former leading the latter lower. All told, ETE lost another 7%-plus of its value, while WMB was off by more than 4%.
And unlike yesterday, falling oil prices couldn’t even be a shaky scapegoat today, as crude oil prices actually advanced nearly 2% on Tuesday.
Rather, Energy Transfer Equity and Williams Companies shares lost ground again today because investors are still protesting the merger of the two organizations. Many shareholders feel there’s more downside than upside in the pairing of the two companies at this time.
ETE is down more than 40% since its peak from May, with most of that pullback taking shape in anticipation of the Williams Companies deal.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS)
Will the Macau casino debacle ever end?
Probably, but not anytime soon, it looks like. Las Vegas Sands shares, along with those of most of its peers, paid the price for that reality today.
The prod for today’s 6% pullback from LVS was an alarming revelation from Neptune Group … one of Macau’s largest gambling junkets. It said if the number of VIP gamers continues to dwindle, it may have to shut down. It’s a problem, as VIP gamblers accounted for 70% of Macau casinos’ revenue last year before the government crackdown.
Taking that ball and running with it, LVS investors interpreted the warning as a sign that overall business continues to wane for Macau’s casinos (which it does).
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
Last and certainly not least, Apple shares lost 3% on Tuesday not because the initial sales of the new iPhone 6S weren’t good, but because they weren’t good enough to satisfy AAPL owners.
All told, Apple sold 13 million phones last weekend, which was a record debut for the much-ballyhooed device. The concern? The record sales level doesn’t necessarily indicate record demand. For the previous launch of the iPhone that set a then-new-record, supply was relatively limited. In fact, activations of the iPhone 6S looked suspiciously tepid.
Fanning the bearish flames for AAPL was news that Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) unveiled an enterprise-level tablet that could compete with iPad Pro … one of the centerpieces of Apple’s future. The 10.9-inch device will work with a detachable keyboard.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
