Markets took a bit of a breather on Thursday after a report that September jobless claims came in at a seven-year low, but that the new number was attributed to upgrades in two states’ systems causing those states to underreport.
With nothing to build on, the S&P 500 lost ground after seven straight days of gains, falling 0.34% to 1683.42, while the Nasdaq lost 0.24% to 1683.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.17% to 15,300.64.
Pandora (P) shares soared more than 12% after announcing that it had hired a new CEO — Brian McAndrews, formerly from Madrona Venture Group and Microsoft (MSFT) — to succeed Joe Kennedy.
Walgreen (WAG) rose 5% to an all-time high after Goldman Sachs raised its rating from “buy” to “conviction buy” based on WAG’s recent partnership moves, including its venture with Alliance Boots, a privately held European drug retailer.
Yahoo (YHOO) rose nearly 2% on news that it reached 800 million users worldwide — a 20% increase in traffic since CEO Marissa Meyer took over last year. Shares are up nearly 50% year-to-date.
Noted investor Carl Icahn said that he boosted his stake in Apple (AAPL) after its recent selloff, sending shares up more than 1%.
Facebook (FB) pulled back from all-time highs before selling off in the afternoon and finishing down just under 1%.
Lululemon (LULU) shares were down more than 5% after the athletic apparel maker posted improved revenue and earnings for its second quarter, but lowered its full-year earnings per share estimates. LULU is off nearly 14% year-to-date.
Finally, Dell (DELL) shareholders voted to accept Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners’ $25 billion bid to take the company private, and immediately went into discussions with Bank of America, RBC, Barclays and several other banks for a $5.5 billion loan to help fund the purchase price.
Three Up
- Extreme Networks (EXTR): Up 7.4% (30 cents) to $4.33.
- Nokia (NOK): Up 6.9% (41 cents) to $6.36.
- Wendy’s (WEN): Up 4.5% (37 cents) to $8.62.
Three Down
- Men’s Warehouse (MW): Down 12.1% ($4.69) to $34.08
- Allied Nevada Gold (ANV): Down 7.4% (37 cents) to $4.64
- Waterford International (WFT): Down 4.9% (77 cents) to $14.97
Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing, he was long MSFT, AAPL and YHOO.
