It was another mixed day on Wall Street ,as investors couldn't seem to make up their minds. The Dow Jones Industrial Average's (^DJI -0.98%) 30 components were split down the middle, with 15 stocks in the green and 15 ending the trading session in the red. Although the components of the index were split, the Dow still managed to close the day up 14 points or 0.11%, and now sits at 13,169.
This afternoon I explained why shares of Home Depot (HD -0.31%) moved lower. Read about what caused the fall by clicking here, or stick around to learn why Intel (INTC 1.77%), Pfizer (PFE -3.85%), and ExxonMobil (XOM 0.23%)also moved lower today.
So why did they fall?
Shares of Intel moved lower after one analyst cut his price target on the company from $25 to $23. Although Brendan Furlong of Miller Tabak cut his targeted price, he left his neutral rating on the company alone. He stated that the price reduction was due to low demand being seen in the PC market, and with this quarter traditionally being a strong one, weak demand is not a good sign. The idea is that if sales are slipping when they are usually good, what will sales look like when they are traditionally weak?
Shares of Pfizer lost 0.59% of their value today. The drop came as Acura Pharmaceuticals (ACUR 257.14%) launched its new decongestant called Nexafed, which will compete with the popular national brand-name drug Sudafed. Nexafed is specifically designed to prevent its use in creating illegal methamphetamine drugs. Acura has been developing what it calls aversion technology for the past four years, which prevents drugs from being used for something other than their intended purpose. Pfizer has an agreement with Acura to distribute aversion technology drug Oxecta, which is an oxycodone painkiller. But the two companies announced the early termination of an agreement that would have given Pfizer the rights to other Acura drugs such as Nexafed. Both drugs have the possibility to become blockbusters and become the drug of choice when doctors are prescribing medication. Not only did will Pfzer miss out on the opportunity to profit from these drugs, but it will now also have to compete against them.
Shares of the world's largest oil company, ExxonMobil, fell by 0.21% today even as the price of oil rose for the first time in five trading days. The slight move lower could be due to a report released this morning by the National Intelligence Council indicating that OPEC may lose its power to set global oil and gasoline prices. The council believes that the recent increase in production from fracking in the U.S., has the potential to raise the world's oil supply enough that the influence OPEC has on the market will dramatically weaken. While this sounds good for consumers, it may be bad for the oil companies because it would mean potentially more volatility in the price of oil.
