With Greece deals stalling and the broad market dropping, investors may be wondering: "Has 2012 been too good to be true?"
Granted, the slow and steady gains have quietly put the major indexes back on solid footing, but their closing out the week with their worst performance of the year doesn't mean this run is done. The U.S. economy is showing strength, and if you are into technical indicators, they continue to point upward. Considering January's historic run, a little pullback is not a bad thing.
Let's take a closer look at how the three major indexes fared today along with some notable movers.
|
|
Gain / Loss |
Gain / Loss % |
Ending Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) | (89.23) | (0.69%) | 12,801.23 |
| Nasdaq | (23.25) | (0.80%) | 2,903.88 |
| S&P 500 | (9.31) | (0.69%) | 1,342.64 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
All three indices closed firmly in the red, with the Nasdaq declining 0.8% (making it the worst-performing index), while the S&P's 0.7% drop helps it maintain its lengthy 30-session streak without a 1% or greater decline. All but one of the Dow's thirty components finished with losses, most of them under 1%, a distinct improvement from earlier in the day. The biggest outlier in the Dow is Alcoa, down 3.5% as it struggles against excess capacity across the industry, low prices, and squeezed margins.
But it could have been worse. Much worse. Just ask investors in K-V Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: KV-A), which saw an exchange-worst 38% decline on Q4 earnings. The good news: Losses declined! Unfortunately, reducing cash burn from $48 million to 38 million (on only $5 million in revenue) may not be enough to save the embattled maker of Makena. The pre-term-labor drug ran into a firestorm of criticism after it attempted to cut off a cheap and readily available compounded supply and charge 100 times more. Much like Avanir's (Nasdaq: AVNR) psuedobulbar effect drug Nuedexta, which similarly took compounded drugs and charged $4,300 (30 times more), this has enraged the public and caught the attention of the U.S. Senate.
Unfortunately for K-V, the public outcry has indeed spurred the Government into action. The FDA would not stop doctors from compounding a drug similar to Makena and K-V slashed its price from $1,500 to $690. The company signaled months ago that at a lower price K-V would have trouble turning a profit, and now management is doubtful over the company's ability to remain a going concern. I would believe them.
From a company with little revenue to a company with none, today's top performing stock is Cobalt Energy (NYSE: CIE). The oil exploration outfit just reported "exceptional results" from a well test off of Angola and shares were bid up by 33%. Cobalt still has no current production, but a well producing 20,000 boepd is a valuable asset, and every step closer to earning that first dollar for the $12 billion company is an important one for investors.
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