By Nikolaj Gammeltoft
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks sank, capping the market’s biggest three-day tumble since March, as financial shares slumped on President Barack Obama’s plan to rein in banks and results at Google Inc. disappointed investors.
Bank of America Corp. led the S&P 500 Financials Index to a 3.3 percent drop as uncertainty over Ben S. Bernanke’s confirmation for another term as head of the Federal Reserve also weighed on lenders. Google sank 5.7 percent after fourth- quarter sales growth missed the most optimistic of analysts’ estimates. U.S. Steel Corp. fell as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said China’s move to slow its economy will hurt metal producers.
“Bernanke is viewed by markets around the world as a positive for the U.S. economy and the uncertainty about his reconfirmation is accelerating today’s sell-off,” said Michael Holland, who oversees more than $4 billion as chairman of Holland & Co. in New York. “Tag that onto the concerns over China’s economy and Washington’s offensive against the banks.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 2.2 percent to 1,091.76 at 4:19 p.m. in New York, plunging the most since October and erasing its 2010 gain. The gauge slid 5.1 percent over the past three days as China curbed lending and Obama said banks should be banned from proprietary trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 216.9 points, or 2.1 percent, to 10,172.98.
VIX Jumps Most Since ‘07
The three-day rout in U.S. equities was the biggest for the S&P 500 since the measure sank to a 12-year low in March amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The VIX, the benchmark index of stock options known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” jumped 55 percent to 27.31 in the past three days for its biggest gain since 2007.
Morgan Stanley lost 5.3 percent to $27.80, Bank of America fell 3.7 percent to $14.90 and Goldman Sachs declined 4.2 percent to $154.12. The S&P 500 Financials Index has slipped 6.1 percent over the past two days, its biggest decline since September.
Obama yesterday called for limiting the size and trading activities of financial institutions as a way to reduce risk- taking and prevent another financial crisis. The proposals, to be added to an overhaul of regulations being considered by Congress, would prohibit banks from running proprietary trading operations solely for their own profit and sponsoring hedge funds and private equity funds.
Meredith Whitney, the banking analyst who forecast Citigroup Inc.’s dividend cut in 2008, said Obama’s plan will probably be approved and may “dramatically” reduce trading profits.
Washington ‘At War’
“Short sellers have come out heavy against the financials because their view is that Washington is at war with the banks now,” said Kevin Shacknofsky, who manages $2.5 billion for Alpine Mutual Funds in Purchase, New York. “Financials will be the political scapegoat this year and it’s going to be really tough to own bank stocks until the November elections.”
Morgan Stanley Asia Chairman Stephen Roach said Obama’s plan amounted to “bank bashing” and called on politicians to take a more balanced approach. Banks may have to sell some private-equity businesses and stop investing in buyouts under the proposal.
Financial shares extended declines as Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer and Russ Feingold said they won’t support Ben S. Bernanke for a second term as the chairman of the Federal Reserve comes up for confirmation in the Senate. A second term would begin on Feb. 1.
‘Rattle the Market’
A failure to confirm Bernanke “would really rattle the market,” said Karl Mills, who helps manage about $30 million as chief investment officer for Jurika Mills & Keifer LLC in Oakland, California. “The Fed chair you know is better than the one you don’t. In this political environment, we’re not presuming anything anymore.”
American Express Co. and Capital One Financial Corp. fell 8.5 percent and 12 percent respectively as analysts at FBR Capital Markets reduced earnings estimates, citing shrinking margins and new U.S. credit-card regulations.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., AK Steel Holding Corp. and U.S. Steel Corp. retreated at least 2.7 percent after Goldman Sachs downgraded the industry to “neutral” from “attractive.”
“Historically, investors have shunned these high beta sectors when concerns about Chinese demand have surfaced,” Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note. “Although stocks have already corrected somewhat, there is a likelihood of more tightening measures that could further weigh on stocks.”
Biggest Risks
The biggest risk for equities in 2010 is that policy makers withdraw stimulus measures through regulation, or raise rates before the stimulus has had a chance to help the labor market, Michael Hartnett, Bank of America’s chief global equity strategist, wrote in a report dated yesterday.
Google dropped 5.7 percent, the most since March, to $550.01. The owner of the world’s most popular Internet search engine said sales excluding revenue passed on to partner Web sites increased 13 percent to $4.95 billion from the third quarter. Some analysts had predicted growth of as much as 17 percent, said Sameet Sinha of JMP Securities LLC in San Francisco.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. had the biggest drop in the S&P 500, declining 12 percent to $7.88. The second-largest maker of personal-computer processors fell the most since July on concern the company will struggle to maintain sales gains. Some investors are concerned that PC demand may have topped out, making the stock too expensive, said Doug Freedman, a Broadpoint AmTech Inc. analyst in San Francisco.
Intel Corp., the biggest chipmaker, lost 4.5 percent to $19.91.
Schlumberger, GE
Schlumberger Ltd. dropped 4.5 percent to $65.24 as the world’s largest oilfield-services provider said fourth-quarter profit fell 31 percent after oil producers slashed spending during the global recession.
General Electric Co. added as much as 4.6 percent before paring gains as the market sank. The stock closed up 0.6 percent at $16.11. The biggest maker of power-plant turbines posted fourth-quarter profit from continuing operations of 28 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated 26 cents a share on average.
“We’ve been warming up to GE again and we’re looking to add it back into our portfolio,” said Michael Mullaney, who manages $9 billion at Fiduciary Trust Co. in Boston. “The next leg of the economy to sustain growth will be the industrial and manufacturing sector.”
Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in January for a fifth straight month, pointing to a factory rebound that is helping lead the economy out of the recession, according to a report from The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia yesterday.
McDonald’s Gains
McDonald’s Corp. rose 0.3 percent to $63.39. The world’s largest restaurant company reported fourth-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates as global sales at established stores increased 2.3 percent.
Intuitive Surgical Inc. jumped 12 percent to $340.35, the highest price since April 2008. The maker of robotic systems for surgery reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.95 per share. That beat the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg by 15 percent.
The S&P 500 is down 4.8 percent since Alcoa Inc. started the fourth-quarter earnings season on Jan. 11 with lower-than- estimated profit. Analyst forecast total earnings for companies in the index grew 73 percent in the period, according to a Bloomberg survey, following a record nine quarter slump.
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