Stock Market Today: Another $2 Trillion?; Amarin Bites the Dust

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It was a mixed session in the stock market today. The S&P 500 opened lower and pressed higher into positive territory in morning trading, before turning lower and ending down 1.6% on the day.

From the March lows to Tuesday’s high, the S&P 500 had rebounded 20.5%. It just goes to show how large of a decline investors have suffered through, as the index couldn’t even reclaim half of the losses it has suffered despite rallying so far.

As the recent market momentum begins to cool, investors are left searching for direction. That’s as investors wonder if more upside is in store or if we are going to embark on a pullback. All the while, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is still north of $50.

Movers in the Stock Market Today

U.S. Steel (NYSE:X), Alcoa (NYSE:AA), Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF), Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) and others were rising as President Donald Trump pushes for new infrastructure legislation.

Trump tweeted that the plan “should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country!” After just signing a $2.2 trillion federal aid bill on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thinks that lawmakers should wait and see how everything with the current crisis unfolds first.

Amarin (NASDAQ:AMRN) shares fell 70% after losing a key patent battle. According to reports, “the high triglycerides treatment is based on a type of fish oil and defendants say the benefits have been known for decades.” The company plans to appeal the ruling, but the stock has been hammered as a result of Tuesday’s news.

Zoom Video (NASDAQ:ZM) has some attention from Letitia James, New York’s attorney general. She is looking into the company’s privacy practices, inquiring about any new security measures due to the increased traffic right now. Zoom states that it is happy to comply with these inquiries and it takes its user privacy seriously. The news comes as reports allege that Zoom collects and shares user data with third parties.

Retail Woes

J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) is joining the growing list of companies that plan to temporarily furlough employees due to the pandemic. The company will also be extending its store closures. While JCP already furloughed many supply chain and logistics center employees, it will furlough many hourly store employees beginning April 2.

Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ:URBN) is also extending its store closures until further notice. Starting April 1 the company will be furloughing many store, home office and wholesale employees for 60 days. However, employees will still receive benefits during this time.

Add Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) to the list as well. The country’s largest mall operator plans to furlough about 30% of its staff. The move will impact full- and part-time workers.

Visa (NYSE:V) has provided another update, and it’s not good. From March 1 through the 28, U.S. payment volume fell 4% year-over-year. Cross-border volumes on a constant currency basis sank 19% year-over-year. While the numbers aren’t horrible, U.S. consumption didn’t slow much in the beginning of the month, so concerns still linger going forward as more states remain on lockdown.

V stock fell 2.7% on the day.

Domino’s Pizza (NYSE:DPZ) shared an update too, providing an update on its same-store sales results. Shares fell 6.5% after the company reported that overall preliminary Q1 same-store sales grew just 1.6% in the U.S. That’s Domino’s worst results in its 36-quarter growth streak, which began in 2011.

The company also drew down the rest of its remaining $158 million credit line, giving it $300 million on hand to weather the novel coronavirus, while also pulling its financial guidance.

Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2020/03/stock-market-today-another-2-trillion-amarin-bites-the-dust/.

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