Markets Debut Week On Negative Note; S&P 500 Falls Through Key Level - Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

U.S. markets began the week on a negative note after markets sold off in the final two hours of trading on no major news catalyst. The S&P 500 fell through its 200-day moving average of 1,905, a key technical level for fundamental investors and traders. The last time the index broke its 200-day moving average was in November 2012. Shares of Ebola-related companies such as

Lakeland Industries

continued surging today while transport stocks like

United Continental Holdings

saw heavy selling pressure on higher than normal volume.

Recommended: Options Outlook For The Week Of October 13: Will Last Week's Trend Continue? The Dow lost 1.35 percent, closing at 16,321.07. The S&P 500 lost 1.65 percent, closing at 1,874.74. The Nasdaq lost 1.46 percent, closing at 4,213.66. Gold gained 1.08 percent, trading at $1,234.90 an ounce. Oil lost 0.79 percent, trading at $85.14 a barrel. Silver gained 1.05 percent, trading at $17.49 an ounce.
News of Note
September Chinese exports rose 15.3 percent on year (versus expectations of an 11.8 percent rise) after rising 9.4 percent in August. Imports rose 7.0 percent (versus expectations of a 2.7 percent decline) after falling 2.4 percent in August. The country's trade surplus fell to $31 billion (versus expectations of $41 billion) from $49.83 billion in August. Also, China's central bank stated that it still expects to meet its 7.5 percent growth target this year.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades of Note
Analysts at Bank of America maintained a Buy rating on Amazon.com AMZN with a price target lowered to $390 from a previous $400. Shares lost 1.59 percent, closing at $306.45. Analysts at JPMorgan maintained a Neutral rating on Barrick Gold ABX with a price target lowered to $14 from a previous $17. Shares lost 0.22 percent, closing at $13.45. Analysts at Jefferies maintained a Hold rating on Bristol-Myers Squibb BMY with a price target raised to $50 from a previous $45. Shares lost 2.37 percent, closing at $49.09. Analysts at Barclays maintained an Overweight rating on Caterpillar CAT with a price target lowered to $112 from a previous $117. Shares lost 1.56 percent, closing at $91.68. Analysts at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey upgraded Cooper Tire & Rubber CTB to Buy from Neutral with a price target raised to $37 from a previous $34. Shares gained 2.12 percent, closing at $28.43. Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded Darden Restaurants DRI to Neutral from Overweight with a price target lowered to $50 from a previous $55. Shares lost 2.67 percent, closing at $47.08. Analysts at Piper Jaffray maintained a Market Outperform rating on Facebook FB with a price target raised to $92 from a previous $90. Shares gained 0.11 percent, closing at $72.99. Recommended: Interest Rates Headed Lower Even As Fed Ends Quantitative Easing Analysts at FBR Capital maintained an Outperform rating on Gilead Sciences GILD with a price target raised to $133 from a previous $125. Shares lost 2.21 percent, closing at $101.44. Analysts at Hudson Square upgraded Google GOOG to Buy from Hold with a $700 price target. Shares lost 2.07 percent, closing at $533.21. Analysts at UBS downgraded J.C. Penney JCP to Sell from Neutral with a price target lowered to $5 from a previous $10. Shares lost 0.42 percent, closing at $7.09. Analysts at CRT Capital upgraded L-3 Communications LLL to Fairly Valued from Sell with a price target raised to $115 from a previous $90. Shares lost 5.12 percent, closing at $109.25. Analysts at Piper Jaffray maintained an Overweight rating on Mastercard MA with a price target lowered to $88 from a previous $91. Shares lost 1.02 percent, closing at $69.78. Analysts at Jefferies maintained a Hold rating on Merck & Company MRK with a price target lowered to $60 from a previous $62. Shares lost 4.30 percent, closing at $56.14. Analysts at Jefferies maintained a Buy rating on Pfizer PFE with a price target raised to $40 from a previous $38. Shares lost 2.27 percent, closing at $28.47. Analysts at JPM organ maintained an Overweight rating on SolarCity SCTY with a price target lowered to $74 from a previous $83. Shares lost 9.82 percent, closing at $48.29. Analysts at Northland Securities upgraded Workday WDAY to Outperform from Market perform with a price target raised to $100 from a previous $95. Shares lost 1.08 percent, closing at $78.42. Analysts at BGC Partners upgraded Yahoo! YHOO to Buy from Hold with a price target raised to $50 from a previous $37. Shares lost 3.08 percent, closing at $38.38.
Equities-Specific News of Note
Comcast's CMCSA Universal Studio received regulatory approval from the Chinese government to open a $3.27 billion theme park in Beijing. Shares lost 1.86 percent, closing at $51.64. Level 3 LVLT successfully obtained a $2 billion loan which expires in 2022 to finance its acquisition of TW Telecom at a rate of LIBOR + 3.5 percent. Shares lost 2.31 percent, closing at $38.05. Freeport McMoRan FCX can now resume open pit mining at its complex in Indonesia after it agreed to make changes to its safety measures. Shares gained 0.20 percent, closing at $30.72. J.C. Penney JCP announced that it appointed Marvin Ellison to be its next CEO. Ellison is currently a vice president at Home Depot. Shares lost 0.42 percent, closing at $7.09. Related: Sozzi: 'Say Hello To The New CEO Of Your Mom's J.C. Penney' Bloomberg speculated that Anheuser-Busch InBev BUD has considered a potential merger with Pepsi. PEP Shares of InBev lost 0.22 percent, closing at $106.03 while shares of Pepsi lost 0.75 percent, closing at $93.94. Salesforce.com CRM revealed its Wave cloud analytic and business intelligence software during its annual “Dreamforce” conference event. Shares lost 2.81 percent, closing at $53.23. Boeing BA reported that Garuda Indonesia plans to purchase 50 737-MAX airlines valued at $4.9 billion. Shares of Boeing lost 0.86 percent, closing at $120.45. b>Steris STE has agreed to acquire U.K. based Synergy Health for $1.9 billion. Steris plans to incorporate itself in the U.K. but maintain its headquarters in the U.S. Shares of Steris gained 0.32 percent, closing at $56.56.
Winners of Note
The Wall Street Journal reported that Canadian Pacific Railway CP approached CSX Corp CSX recently to discuss a potential combination of the two railroad operators. Shares of Canadian Pacific fell 2.32 percent, closing at $184.97 while shares of CSX hit new 52-week highs of $34.09 before closing the day at $31.70, up 5.88 percent. Iron ore prices posted the largest intraday rise since May helping boost shares of Cliffs Natural Resources. CLF Shares gained 12.70 percent, closing at $8.25.
Decliners of Note
A France based journalist reported that Formula 1 superstar Michael Schumacher's head injuries are due to the “mounting of the GoPro GPRO camera that he had on his helmet that injured his brain.” The article also claimed that the race car driver's helmet completely broke while a lab has been testing to see if the GoPro camera was responsible. Note: The Telegraph reported a similar story back in February. Shares lost 9.85 percent, closing at $76.67. Targa Resources Partners NGLS and Targa Resources TRGP has agreed to acquire Atlas Pipeline Partners APL and Atlas Energy ATLS in a deal valued at $7.7 billion. Targa Resources Partners expects 11 13 percent distribution growth in 2015 while Targa Resources expects approximately 35 percent dividend growth in 2015. Targo also expects the deal to add $1.00 to $2.00 per share dividend accretion over the long term. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter 2015. Shares of Targa Resources Partners fell 7.42 percent, closing at $59.23 while shares of Targa Resources lost 10.39 percent, closing at $109.01. Shares of Atlas Pipeline Partners gained 1.34 percent, closing at $34.07 while shares of Atlas Energy gained 14.93 percent, closing at $37.25. Recommended: S&P 500, Homebuilders And Gold ETFs To Watch This Week Globelstar GSAT said that Kerrisdale Capital's FCC filling is “nothing more than another attempt by a short seller to drive the price of Globalstar's stock down for its own short term financial game” and that Kerrisdale's arguments “demonstrate a lack of understanding of our company and our industry.” Shares hit new 52-week lows of $1.56 before closing the day at $1.71, down 5.0 percent. Luxottica's LUX CEO Enrico Cavatorta resigned over the weekend allegedly due to disagreements he had with the company's founder Leonardo Del Vecchio. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $46.68 before closing the day at $47.01, down 9.07 percent.
Quote of the Day
“"They're somewhat overvalued but that's not the core of the insanity. Tech investors always overrate growth and always underrate durability. You can measure growth but you can't measure durability." – Peter Thiel speaking on CNBC.

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