Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Headwinds Persist, Major Markets Down 3rd Straight Day: DAL, AAL, UAL, WBA

Read MoreHide Full Article

Market indexes were mostly down, albeit just slightly, on this Thursday regular session. However, it is the third-straight day in the red for the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq, which fell 0.07%, 0.15% and 0.47%, respectively. Once again, we saw no particular event to send shares down again, though Tech underperformed most all sectors, -0.44%. Only the small-cap Russell 2000 finished in the green, +1.06%, demonstrating there still is at least a modicum of “risk on” appetite in the market at present.

Airlines were down big again, as Q3 earnings misses in the past two weeks for Delta (DAL - Free Report) , American (AAL - Free Report) and United (UAL - Free Report) helped tumble the stocks roughly 6% each today. Also, the perpetual fumbling in Washington DC rather than agreeing on a stimulus package ahead of the election in less than three weeks has caused airlines to scale back their business expectations going forward, with major layoffs taking place across the airline industry.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA - Free Report) had a good day following its fiscal Q4 beat on both top and bottom lines. The oddly ranked (Zacks Rank #5 [Strong Sell] matched with a Value - Growth - Momentum grade of A) Consumer Staples retailer gained 4.8% in regular Thursday trading, although its quarterly results were still down 21% year over year on the top line and -29% on the bottom line. Shares of WBA had sunk 30% year to date ahead of this latest earnings report. For more on WBA’s earnings, click here.

As the number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S. approaches 8 million and the fatality total now over 217K, a second-wave resurgence is underway in the Great Lakes states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. At a case rate north of 24K per 1 million, the U.S. stands with only a handful of countries in South America and the Middle East as among the areas with the least amount of success in containing the coronavirus. Economic affects in Europe due to the pandemic are hampering the global market at this time, as well.

So the headwinds remain, which is helping put a damper on bullish market spirits. Perhaps when Big Tech produces their Q3 earnings results over the next few weeks, we’ll be able to see a more robust sentiment among market participants.

Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>

 

The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All

Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.

See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>

Published in