The Dow Jones Industrial Average is on track for its fourth consecutive decline on Friday, a steady and consistent pullback from its push to a new record high on Monday.
While headline overall have been relatively quiet this week, a number of headwinds have given investors pause.
These include last week’s surprisingly hawkish Federal Reserve policy announcement, ongoing weakness in crude oil and energy stocks, resistance by Republicans to the Senate GOP’s healthcare reform bill and ongoing disappointment in the economic data.
While the Dow remains steadfast overall, breadth remains narrow as more and more stocks succumb to downside pressure.
Here are three Dow components rolling over:
Dow Jones: Walmart (WMT)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) shares are under pressure again, threatening to close at levels not seen since early May down 7.4% from its early June high.
The stock has sliced below its 50-day moving average for the first time since February in the wake of last week’s news that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) was buying Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM), pushing in further on WMT’s turf.
The chatter now is that WMT could be forced to make a bid for WFM itself, at the very least pushing up AMZN’s acquisition price but also potentially “snapping in” WFM’s much more urban store footprint.
The company will next report results on Aug. 17 before the bell. Analysts are looking for earning of $1.06 per share on revenues of $122 billion.
Dow Jones: Intel (INTC)
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) shares are down more than 8% from their late April high, dropping to levels not seen since early December. This caps a two-year topping range near $37-$38, setting up a possible test of the mid-2016 reaction low near $29 which would be worth roughly a 15% decline from here.
The company will next report results on July 27 after the close. Analysts are looking for earnings of 68 cents per share on revenues of $14.4 billion.
Shares suffered a downgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts on Thursday amid increasing competitive pressure from Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) and its new CPU architecture.
Dow Jones: Home Depot (HD)
Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) is suffering a rare bout of weakness on Friday, taking shares below their 50-day moving average for the first time since November and ending a powerful uptrend that gained more than 25% into the mid-May high. For a stock that’s been in a relentless uptrend since 2011, any downside pressure is notable.
The company will next report results on Aug. 15 before the bell. Analysts are looking for earnings of $2.21 per share on revenues of $27.8 billion.
The current weakness appears to be a bout of profit taking following a post-earnings surge last week, with earnings of $1.67 per share beating estimates by six cents on a 4.9% increase in revenues.
Anthony Mirhaydari is founder of the Edge (ETFs) and Edge Pro (Options) investment advisory newsletters. Free two- and four-week trial offers have been extended to InvestorPlace readers.
