Tuesday Closing Bell: Markets in Confusion, Some Win Some Lose

Investing

Published: August 20, 2013 4:31 pm

Last Updated: August 20, 2013 4:38 pm

Stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, making two weeks worth of losses seem like they do not have to continue. Investors may finally be getting used to the environment of higher interest rates, and this is all ahead of the FOMC Minutes from the July 31 meeting due at 2:00 PM on Wednesday. Latin American stocks were mixed, while European and Asian markets were lower for the most part.

A report from the Chicago Federal Reserve showed that the national activity index was negative in July, and June was revised lower. India remains a challenging spot, as does Brazil. Unfortunately that continues to spell doom and losses for the emerging markets when consider that all of the BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India, and China are all running on sub-standard growth.

We also broke out the top Wall Street calls with analyst upgrades and analyst downgrades. Here are the closing bell levels for Tuesday:

S&P500 1,652.36 (+6.30; +0.38%)
DJIA 15,002.99 (-7.75; -0.05%)
NASDAQ 3,613.59 (+24.50; +0.68%)
10YR TNOTE 2.814% (-0.07)
Gold $1,371.30 (+5.60; +0.41%)
Oil $104.92 (-2.18; -2.04%) after challenging $107 this morning.
Dollar/Euro: 1.3421 (+0.0086; +0.64%)

Big earnings winners: J.C. Penney Company (NYSE: JCP) up almost 6% to $14.01 despite poor earnings, Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) 13% to $34.80 on its solid turnaround earnings, and Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) up over 8% at $43.19 as it proved why it should have been a private equity buyout two years ago.

DJIA stocks on the move: International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) hit a new 52-week low of $183.17 on Tuesday but managed to close up 0.2% at $184.56. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) had another gain of 1.1% to $22.52 a day after an analyst upgrade, The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) closed own by 1.2% at $74.29 even though its earnings rose some 17%, likely on profit taking.

LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LITB) fell almost 40% to $11.58 after its earnings, making it a pariah for recent IPOs even if it is supposed to be a winner of online retail efforts in China. Investors caught by this one have named it “Sh@^InTheBox” now.

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