Industrials continued their drift downward on Tuesday, after falling Monday because of bad news from a survey of manufacturers by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Broad market indexes ended mixed, with the Dow Jones up and the S&P 500 down, both by around 1%, but most manufacturers fell. Leading the way down were growth stocks trading at high valuation multiples, reflecting more modest expectations of future growth.
Two of the day's worst performers were Stratasys
Tesla Motors
More traditional automakers, however, bucked the downward sentiment and traded up for the day. Ford
General Motors
The news comes after reports Monday that top GM executives had proposed to the U.S. Treasury that the government sell its 27% ownership stake. Under the plan, GM would buy 40% of the Treasury's shares, with the remainder sold on the open market. At current prices, however, such a move would represent a $15 billion loss to the government and to taxpayers, something the Obama administration is unlikely to accept in the midst of a heated election. After the election, however, the president -- whether Obama or Romney -- could presumably decide to sell at any time.
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