Markets were down across the board today, signaling pessimism in advance of tomorrow's jobs report. However, it has been a triumphant day for short sellers following the lead of famed investor David Einhorn. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at how the major indexes are fared and drill down on a few stocks driving today's action.
|
Index |
Gain / Loss |
Gain / Loss % |
Ending Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) | (61.98) | (0.47%) | 13,206.59 |
| Nasdaq | (35.55) | (1.16%) | 3,024.30 |
| S&P 500 | (10.74) | (0.77%) | 1,391.57 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance.
The Dow held up better than the other two major indexes, but May's brief performance has turned negative. More volatile components Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) saw the biggest declines, down 2% and 3%, respectively, on a light news day. B of A lost its investment-banking head for the Middle East, another reminder of the departure of top talent from the firm. And HP actually had good news, reclaiming the top spot for PC sales this past quarter. However, those drops are nothing compared with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR).
It may be time to rename this company Red Mountain, as shares continue to fall. The stock was cut in half today as full-year guidance left shareholders trampling each other to get to the exits. Management would have gotten a better reaction yelling "fire" in a crowded theater. Are things that bad at Green Mountain? Possibly. Sales growth still lags inventory growth, and this quarter's surprisingly high number was blamed on a warm winter. Famed short seller David Einhorn has railed on Green Mountain before for its accounting practices, claiming that the company was juicing sales. It seems he's getting more converts every quarter.
But that isn't the only stock Einhorn touched this week that's falling. Investors were caught off guard when the hedge fund manager showed up on Herbalife's (NYSE: HLF) conference call Monday. Shares dropped 15% after Einhorn had very pointed questions for Herbalife's management regarding distribution data. Shares have stayed in freefall, dropping 11% yesterday and another 12% today. Despite a great quarter that surpassed expectations, Einhorn's presence could mean that his hedge fund, Greenlight Capital, is targeting Herbalife as an overvalued company. It seems that has created a seemingly self-fulfilling prophecy.
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