Orderly selling marred stock market returns on Monday, March 9th - yet again. All major U.S. stock indexes finished in the red, with the Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ all plunging by more that 1%. Fittingly, multiple sectors lost significant value and are trading at decade lows. The carnage is highlighted by the fact that 506 of the 3,066 issues trading on the New York Stock Exchange touched 52-week nadirs on the session.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has broken down to 6,547.
Technology stocks shed dollars upon recession fears. International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM -2.72% / $83.48), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG -5.73% / $290.89), and networking bell weather Cisco (NASDAQ Ticker: CSCO -3.81% / $13.62) were all drubbed.
Of course, there were but a few winners trading higher.
Alcoa and ExxonMobil were bright spots on the Dow. These basic materials stocks advanced upon speculation of an impending OPEC production cut and the machinations surrounding China's very own economic stimulus plan. Aluminum heavyweight Alcoa rose .18, or 3.45% to $5.40, while Exxon added 52 cents to $64.55.
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) shares also skyrocketed by 19% to close at $3.74 per share. The large move arrives courtesy of a successful $8 billion debt offering by the Charlotte mega bank. Of course, sixty cents appreciation is of little consolation to long term BAC holders that have witnessed their Bank of America holdings deteriorate from $50 to $3 over the past two years. Financial stocks have been completely destroyed by this economic debacle.
Merck and Schering-Plough Announce $41 Billion Merger
Merck (NYSE: MRK) and Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) announced a reverse-merger. The pharmaceutical giants will label the resulting company Merck, although Schering-Plough is listed as the surviving entity.
SGP shares spiked on the news by 14% to $20; while Dow 30 component acquirer Merck fell by 7.7% to $20.99. The acquisition did nothing to inspire confidence in Big Pharma. Johnson and Johnson and Pfizer shares retreated by 2.9% and .8%, respectively.
The mood on Wall Street has become so dour that not even a blockbuster $41 billion deal is able to stoke markets. Still, somebody, somewhere is making money.
March 9, 2009 Wall Street Recap, Sources
Phil Mintz, Merck is Buying Schering-Plough for $41 Billion, http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2009/db2009039_430130.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_top+story
Rita Nazareth and Lynn Thomasson, U.S. Stocks Fall on Buffett, World Bank Warning About Economy, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acmiX_sr8yuc&refer=home
Alexandra Twin, For Dow, another 12-year Low, http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/09/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm
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