Stocks Nosedive to Start September

• By the tickerspy.com Staff
• On 4:43 pm EDT, Tuesday September 1, 2009

Yesterday we said September could be a "rocky" month, and it certainly has started out that way as stocks sold off on generally positive economic news. It was the lack of reaction to good economic news that made us cautious on the market in late August, and now stocks are selling off despite the generally positive news. Investors are advised to look to protect profits made during the market's six-month rally.

The Swine Flu and Bird Flu Stocks Index was the top performing tickerspy Index on the day, led by AVI Biopharma (Nasdaq: AVII - News) with a 22% gain.

Stocks tumbled to start the month, with the Dow down -186 points to close at 9,311. The S&P lost -23 points to 998, while the Nasdaq dropped -40 points to 1,969. Oil slipped -$1.91 to $68.05 a barrel, while gold added $3.00 to $956.50 an ounce.

The Institute for Supply Management announced today that manufacturing activity in the U.S. rose for the first time in 19 months, as its manufacturing index rose to 52.9 in August from 48.9 in July. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. Economists were looking for a reading of 50.5. Elsewhere, the National Association of Realtors said contracts signed in July rose 3.2% to a reading of 97.6 on its seasonally adjusted index, better than the 96.5 number economists were expecting. Meanwhile, construction spending slipped -0.2 in July, according to the Commerce Department, worse than the flat reading that economists had expected.

In earnings news, Internet portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA - News) announced that its Q2 profit fell -41% to $13.3 million, or 23 cents per share, down from $22.5 million, or 37 cents per share, a year ago. Adjusted EPS was 29 cents, in line with the Wall Street consensus. Revenue dropped -1% to $90.3 million ahead of analyst estimates of $88.1 million. The company guided for Q3 revenue of $91-$94 million, below estimates of $96.1 million. The stock edged down -0.6%. Seven Pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q3.

Shares of America's Car-Mart (Nasdaq: CRMT - News) rose 16.8% after the auto retailer reported better-than-expected fiscal Q1 numbers. For the period ended July 31st, the company earned $7 million, or 60 cents a share, up 32% from $5.3 million, or 45 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 11% to $83.8 million, as same-store sales climbed 8.5%. Analysts were looking for EPS of 41 cents on sales of $78.0 million.

eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY - News) announced today that it has agreed to sell a majority stake in its Internet-telephony business Skype to a consortium of investors including Silver Lake, Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board. The deal values the unit at $2.75 billion. eBay will receive $1.9 billion in cash, a $125 million note, and retain a 35% stake in Skype. eBay had previously said it planned to spin off the unit in an IPO. The stock fell -2.1%. Sixty Pro investors counted the stock among their top-15 holdings at the start of Q3.

ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ACAD - News) shares plunged -65.8% after the biopharmaceutical company announced disappointing Phase 3 drug trial results. Its drug candidate pimavanserin for the treatment of Parkinson's disease psychosis failed to show the study's standard of anti-psychotic effectiveness. The company said it would continue another late-stage study of the drug currently in progress.

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