Why Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), JD.Com Inc (JD) and Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) Are 3 of Today’s Worst Stocks

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A wishy-washy day for stocks ended up being a modestly bearish one when all was said and done. The S&P 500 closed at 1938.76, down 0.2%, after spending a little time in the black and a little time deeper in the red on Wednesday. With no news to prod them, traders weren’t quite sure what to do.

Why Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), JD.Com Inc. (JD) and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) Are 3 of Today's Worst StocksFor Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) and JD.Com Inc (NASDAQ:JD), however, things were rather rough, mostly thanks to China. Here’s why.

JD.Com Inc (JD)

Not that investors have been particularly hard-pressed to find reasons to dump Chinese stocks like JD.Com, but when they’re given a specific reason, the bears do step up the effort.

Take today’s action, for instance. JD fell more than 4% in the shadow of news that China’s factory activity fell sharply last month. Specifically, the nation’s manufacturing purchasing manager’s index fell to 47 last month, which was the fastest plunge China’s PMI had seen in over six years.

Any reading under 50 suggests contraction.

Investors understandably took it out on JD.com more than other Chinese names. JD is, for all intents and purposes, the eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) of China, and a slowdown in factory activity will likely lead to a slowdown in the country’s consumerism.

Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX)

Chinese stocks weren’t the only victims of alarming economic data from China today. Plenty of American stocks also suffered due to the brewing economic slowdown there. Among the most battered U.S. victims was copper and resource miner Freeport-McMoRan.

Once again, investors connected the dots, assuming China’s shrinking purchasing manager’s index would lead to (if it hasn’t already) fading demand for copper — the key metal in the FCX wheelhouse. It’s a particular concern for all materials suppliers like Freeport-McMoRan, in that China is the world’s biggest buyer of industrial metals.

FCX closed more than 5% lower on Wednesday. Copper prices are down 4% for the week so far, snapping what looked like the beginning of a rebound that got started in late August.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS)

Last but certainly not least, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) checked in as one of Wednesday’s biggest losers, with LVS losing nearly 4% of its value.

Unlike JD.Com and FCX, LVS didn’t stumble because of today’s news hinting at an economic slowdown in China. Las Vegas Sands shares were still a victim of alarming news about China, however.

Long story made short, white LVS is already in a significant amount of trouble as Macau’s gambling industry is withering thanks to a regulatory crackdown, ratings and research group Fitch said things were apt to get even worse for Las Vegas Sands — and its peers — this year than first thought.

Specifically, rather than a previously-predicted 29% decline in Macau’s gaming revenue for 2015, Fitch now expects revenue to fall between 33% and 34% this year.

Fitch also expects the revenue decline to stabilize next year, but LVS shareholders are clearly concerned about “in the meantime.”

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/2015/09/las-vegas-sands-corp-lvs-jd-com-inc-jd-freeport-mcmoran-inc-fcx-3-todays-worst-stocks/.

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