Blue Chips Win Streak Snapped
09/14/06 - 04:42 PM EDT
Robert Holmes
Updated from 4:21 p.m. EDT
Downgrades of two major blue chips and the urge to take profits after a four-day advance left stocks narrowly mixed at the close of trading Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 15.93 points, or 0.14%, to 11,527.39, and the S&P 500 was off 1.79 points, or 0.14%, at 1316.28. The Nasdaq Composite tacked on 1.06 points, or 0.05%, to 2228.73. "Longer-term concerns remain for the consumer and U.S. economy," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist with Spencer Clarke. "But if we can make it through the month of September, which has historically been the worst month of the year for equity prices, odds are improving for a year-end rally." About 1.31 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. Decliners beat advancers by a 10-to-7 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq was 1.87 billion shares, and losers outpaced winners 17 to 13. One of the laggards on the Dow was Boeing (BA Quote - Cramer on BA - Stock Picks). The stock came under pressure after UBS cut its rating on the airplane maker to reduce from neutral and lowered its price target on the stock by $11 to $74. On Wednesday, the airplane maker surged 2.8%, helping to lift the Dow. Boeing lost $1.31, or 1.7%, to $75.01. The firm also dropped Dow component General Electric (GE Quote - Cramer on GE - Stock Picks) to neutral from buy, citing a challenging earnings-growth environment indicated by the shape of the yield curve and higher tax rates. Separately, GE announced it will sell its advanced materials unit to private-equity firm Apollo Management for $3.8 billion in cash and securities. The deal nets GE a 10% stake in the new company. GE said it will use about $2 billion from the sale to pay for restructuring in its industrial businesses. GE was off 6 cents, or 0.2%, to close at $34.78. Meanwhile, Ford (F Quote - Cramer on F - Stock Picks), another big U.S. manufacturing concern, was in the headlines again. The Detroit News reported that, on the basis of internal forecasts, the automaker believes its worldwide car operations could lose nearly $6 billion this year.
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