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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

STOCKS GET CRUSHED: Here's What You Need To Know, October 23, 2012

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Earnings announcements are getting uglier, and traders and investors are getting worried.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 13,103, -242.3, -1.8 percent
S&P 500: 1,413, -20.1, -1.4 percent
NASDAQ: 2,990, -26.2, -0.8 percent

And now the top stories:

Chemical giant and Dow component DuPont tanked today after an ugly earnings announcement. Both revenue and earnings fell short of expectations. Management blamed declines in their electronics, communications, and performance chemicals business. They also noted Asia was particularly weak. The company also slashed full year earnings guidance and announced a new restructuring plan, which will include 1,500 layoffs.
Other huge companies to slash guidance included Dow component 3M and semiconductor behemoth Texas Instruments.
One notable area of strength today was the Dow Transports, aka the "trannies." Leading the trannies today is Ryder System, the trucking and logistics company that blew away earnings expectations and raised full-year guidance. UPS was also up.
Yahoo! announced a stellar Q3. This was the company's first earnings announcement with new CEO Marissa Mayer at the helm. Tech companies were among the leaders in today's market action. Semiconductor giants AMD and NVIDIA were both up significantly.
Apple unveiled a slew of new products today including the iPad Mini, a new iPad, and several new iMacs. It's worth noting that Apple shares immediately dropped by $8 after management announced the iPad Mini would be selling for $329.
In economic news, the Richmond Fed manufacturing index collapsed to -7. Economists were looking for a reading of +5. From the Richmond Fed: "The seasonally adjusted index of overall activity was pushed lower as all broad indicators of activity — shipments, new orders and employment — were in negative territory. Other indicators also suggested additional softness. Capacity utilization turned negative, while backlogs remained negative but improved from its September reading."
Norfolk Southern, Netflix, and Facebook are among the big names announcing earnings after the bell today. Follow the releases LIVE at BusinessInsider.com.
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