After the World Bank reduced its growth forecast for Asian economies, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -1.43%) is sliding lower today. As of 12:30 p.m. EDT, the Dow sits at 13,576, down more than 33 points or 0.25%. The World Bank cut its growth outlook for Asia-Pacific economies to 7.2%, down from 7.6% in May. The largest cut came in China, where growth was forecast at 8.2% in May, now revised to 7.7%. The Asia-Pacific slowdown comes during a time when the major risk to the world economy still remains the European debt crisis, closely followed by the U.S. fiscal cliff.
While the markets in general deal with these new concerns, Disney (DIS -2.43%), Verizon (VZ 0.56%), and AT&T (T 0.51%), are falling for other reasons.
So why are they down?
Disney is trading lower this afternoon by 1.52% after Caris downgraded the company from "Above Average" to "Average." Mickey has seen his stock price climb in recent months: It's up nearly 40% year to date, and it hit an all-time high this year. Another factor weighing on the stock today is the poor performance from the company's Frankenweenie film. Taking just the fourth spot on its opening weekend, the animated movie brought in a meager $11 million. Sony's animated film Hotel Transylvania ranked second this weekend, even though it debuted back on Sept. 28.
Telecommunication giants Verizon and AT&T are trading lower by 0.85% and 0.42%, respectively, after a ruling late Friday by the Federal Communication Commission. The FCC plans to lossen regulations on programming deals. Cable operators such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable will stand to gain considerably as a result to the deal. In the past, cable companies were required to provide rivals with access to any content that was delivered by satellite to the cable network's main distribution point. The easing of regulation will make it more difficult for multichannel satellite broadcasting competitors to acquire content. Verizon, AT&T, DirectTV, and Dish Network will be the companies most likely to be hurt by the change.
