Boone Pickens hurt the stock market greatly today. How did he do that you ask? Well early today Pickens said "producers are running out of oil" and that he believes oil will reach $150 a barrel this year. This caused another surge of nearly 2% in crude oil prices, which finished the day at a staggering $128.98 a barrel. The move in oil clearly shook the stock market today, which weakened throughout the day. The Dow finished the day lower by 199.48 points. The Nasdaq lost 23.83 and the S&P 500 lost 13.23, or 0.93%.
Energy stocks were the sole strong group on the street today, as they have been quite often lately. Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) charged higher by another 2.5% on strong volume to a hit a new 52 week high today. XTO Energy (NYSE:XTO) shares gained 2.12% today as natural gas stocks continued to add to their recent gains. National Oilwell-Varco (NYSE:NOV) saw its shares finish higher by 2.9% today as well. Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN) and Ultra Petroleum (NYSE:UPL) surged by 4.32% and 3.51% today to hit new 52 week highs.
The rest of the market didn't fare so well today. Housing related stocks to another tumble today. Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS), which has a large home improvement business, saw its shares fall 2.58% today. DR Horton (NYSE:DHI) shares lost 4.60%. Centex Corporation (NYSE:CTX) lost 5.46% and KB Home (NYSE:KBH) plunged 5.47% today.
Financial Stocks were once again a major laggard today. JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) shares plunged 4.98% after its CEO said that the Bear Stearns purchase was "very risky." American Express (NYSE:AXP) shares lost 2.57% on the day. Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) shares fell 4.18% after some very negative housing comments from its CEO. Charles Schwab (Nasdaq:SCHW) shares lost 2.5% in today's trading session. Regional Banks also fell today as Key (NYSE:KEY) lost 2.75% and BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT) lost 2.32%.
52 week lows
- United Airlines (Nasdaq:UAUA) Shares plunged 6.92% and hit a new 52 week low.
- Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Shares lost 4.45% on the day.
- General Electric (NYSE:GE) This market leader lost 2.1% and hit a new 52 week low today. GE shares have lost over 14% in the last year.
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