Wall Street Tumbles from Record Highs

Originally published: 11.01.14 by Margot Crabtree

This trading session defined the meaning of volatile, as markets began our month with record highs for the Dow and the S&P 500 and ended Oct. 15, 2014 with a messy rout. 

The summer-long climb to record highs vanished as investors faced the end of the Fed's stimulus program, the possibility of rate hikes by the central bankers and the uncertainty posed by the Ebola virus. 

August U.S. housing starts and permits fell, but upward revisions in July's data show gradual improvement in that sector. The University of Michigan's sentiment index increased to 84.6 in September, from 82.5 in August. 

Even though positive minutes from the Federal Reserve sent markets skyrocketing in October's second week, the next day's plunge wiped out any improvements, and markets kept crumbling. Positive Fed minutes were the rocket ship that sent stocks roaring ahead, but global growth worries sent them plunging back down. 

The Commerce Depart-ment reported that August construction spending was down 0.8 percent, with declines in housing, non-
residential and government projects. 

Alcoa started off earnings season with better-than-expected results, but industrial production decreases in European stalwart Germany sent investors running. The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for global growth, hitting oil especially hard. 

Later this month, the Fed is set to end the asset-buying program that has shored up the U.S. economy, which added to the jitters. The Commerce Department reported that wholesale inventories rose 0.7 percent, but sales fell by an equal amount, the largest weakening since a 1.8 decline in January. 

Retail sales declined in September, and inflation data from the U.S. and China fueled fears of a global slow-down. As our session ended, a sell-off routed even the most bullish investors and wiped out all gains in 2014.  

"It's a function of the U.S. being the best house in a bad neighborhood," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "There's still uncertainty about economic growth, primarily on a global basis."

Exchange	Symbol	Company Name	Price 7/15/14	Price 6/15/14	Net Change	PercentChange	52-Week High	52-Week Low	Shares Outstanding	Market Capitalization
NASD	AAON	AAON, Inc.	20.96	18.13	2.83	15.61%	23.09	16.78	54470	1141691.2
NYSE	ABB	ABB Ltd.	22.07	20.47	1.60	7.82%	27.25	19.92	2280000	50319600
NYSE	ARG	Airgas, Inc.	114.28	106.11	8.17	7.70%	115.14	99.32	74700	8536716
NYSE	AOS	AO Smith Corp.	53.17	46.24	6.93	14.99%	55.18	44.14	89540	4760841.8
NYSE	FIX	Comfort Systems USA, Inc.	14.90	13.74	1.16	8.44%	20.95	12.63	37640	560836
NYSE	DOV	Dover Corp.	80.21	72.06	8.15	11.31%	91.84	67.78	165360	13263525.6
NASD	ELON	Echelon Corp.	1.91	1.82	0.09	4.95%	4.18	1.77	43510	83104.1
NYSE	DD	E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co.	70.80	66.43	4.37	6.58%	72.92	59.35	905950	64141260
NYSE	EME	EMCOR Group, Inc.	44.74	42.00	2.74	6.52%	48.00	37.48	64750	2896915
NYSE	EMR	Emerson Electric Co.	63.62	59.35	4.27	7.19%	70.66	57.76	699600	44508552
NYSE	FCAU	Fiat Chrysler	12.40	8.76	3.64	41.55%	12.50	7.20	1170000	14508000
NYSE	F	Ford Motor Co.	15.14	13.62	1.52	11.16%	18.12	13.26	3850000	58289000
NYSE	GM	General Motors Co.	31.65	29.69	1.96	6.60%	41.85	28.82	1610000	50956500
NYSE	HON	Honeywell International, Inc.	96.79	85.11	11.68	13.72%	98.09	82.89	782810	75768179.9
NASD	HDSN	Hudson Technologies, Inc.	3.79	3.02	0.77	25.50%	4.80	2.11	32030	121393.7
NYSE	IR	Ingersoll-Rand Plc	62.59	53.94	8.65	16.04%	64.77	52.47	265470	16615767.3
NYSE	JCI	Johnson Controls, Inc.	49.41	39.90	9.51	23.83%	52.50	38.60	665500	32882355
NYSE	LII	Lennox International Inc.	91.92	74.99	16.93	22.58%	94.69	72.61	48040	4415836.8
NYSE	LXU	LSB Industries, Inc.	32.98	34.73	-1.75	-5.04%	42.41	29.39	22610	745677.8
NYSE	MTW	Manitowoc Co., Inc.	20.72	17.33	3.39	19.56%	33.50	16.24	135520	2807974.4
NYSE	NWL	Newell Rubbermaid, Inc.	34.83	31.92	2.91	9.12%	35.43	28.27	271100	9442413
NYSE	MLI	Mueller Industries, Inc.	32.46	28.45	4.01	14.09%	32.96	27.10	56890	1846649.4
OTC	NSANY	Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.	18.58	17.75	0.83	4.68%	20.27	16.45	2100000	39018000
NASD	OFLX	OmegaFlex, Inc.	29.77	20.15	9.62	47.74%	30.48	15.93	10090	300379.3
NYSE	PH	Parker-Hannifin Corp.	128.44	102.96	25.48	24.75%	130.44	99.82	148640	19091321.6
NYSE	RBC	Regal-Beloit Corp.	71.12	63.66	7.46	11.72%	80.41	62.15	44690	3178352.8
NYSE	ROK	Rockwell Automation	110.12	100.78	9.34	9.27%	128.57	98.55	137870	15182244.4
OTC	SIEGY	Siemens Aktiengesellschaft	110.83	106.38	4.45	4.18%	139.28	103.20	838790	92963095.7
NYSE	SPW	SPX Corp.	91.93	84.26	7.67	9.10%	111.47	80.50	41070	3775565.1
NYSE	TXN	Texas Instruments	51.63	42.76	8.87	20.74%	51.80	40.33	1060000	54727800
NYSE	UTX	United Technologies Corp.	107.45	99.17	8.28	8.35%	120.66	97.30	911660	97957867
NYSE	WSO	Watsco, Inc.	101.50	89.41	12.09	13.52%	105.39	84.28	32300	3278450

 

The HVACR Business Stock Index tumbled 134.77 points, or 10.59 percent, and closed at 1137.74. Declining issues crushed advancing issues 29-to-3.

Siemens fell 19.48 points, or 15.48 percent following news that the company will acquire Houston-based oilfield equipment maker Dresser-Rand. The deal, which includes assumption of debt, is valued at $7.6 billion. The deal is expected to close by summer 2015. SIEGY closed at 106.38, and was the top dollar loser.

After word of plans to split into two companies, shares of DuPont improved 1.13 points, or 1.73 percent. Activist investor Nelson Peltz and his Trian Fund Management recommended the division, which would separate DD's agriculture, health and biosciences into one company, while materials, safety, electronics and communication would form another one. DD closed at 66.43, and was the top dollar gainer.

A downward revision of its crane sales sent Manitowoc sliding 9.69 points, or 35.86 percent. MTW said this year's revenue will drop by "mid-to-high single digit" percentage compared to last year, revising downward from May, then July forecasts. The company also said that weak global demand will impact third quarter earnings results. MTW closed at 17.33, and was the top percentage loser.

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Margot Crabtree is president of Trade Trends, Inc., a financial data services provider. She has been offering market analysis with customized stock indices and financial commentaries since 1999. For additional information, visit  www.tradetrendsonline.com.