Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Off The Lows Following Obama Speech

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded down 0.77 percent to 14,821.49 while the NASDAQ declined 1.77 percent to 3,703.11. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.94 percent to 1,660.69.

Hot Gas Utility Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Top Headline
Wolverine World Wide (NYSE: WWW) reported a 66% rise in its third-quarter earnings and raised its adjusted earnings outlook for the year. Wolverine now projects adjusted earnings of $2.73 to $2.83, versus its earlier forecast of $2.60 to $2.75 per share. The company narrowed its revenue view to $2.71 billion to $2.73 billion, versus $2.7 billion to $2.775 billion.

Wolverine's quarterly profit rose to $54.4 million, or $1.08 per share, from $32.7 million, or $0.66 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, it earned $1.16 per share, from $0.72 per share. Its revenue climbed to $716.7 million from $353.1 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.03 per share on revenue of $713 million.

Equities Trading UP
McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) rallied on Tuesdays session, gaining 3.26 percent to $133.81 after news broke that the company was in talks to buy its competitor Celesio.

Shares of J. C. Penney Company (NYSE: JCP) got a boost, rising 1.43 percent to $7.82 after the company posted an increase in its same-store sales in September versus August. Analysts at Sterne Agee downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral.

Outerwall (NASDAQ: OUTR) was also up, gaining 5.59 percent to $62.68. TPG-Axon Management reported a 5.1% stake in Outerwall. Yesterday, Jana Partners disclosed a 13.5% stake in the company.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Exact Sciences (NASDAQ: EXAS) were down throughout Tuesday's session, falling 11.10 percent to $10.01, possibly linked to this being the first week its options are tradable.

Seaspan (NYSE: SSW) shares tumbled 9.96 percent to $21.40 after the company announced concurrent public offerings of common shares and convertible senior notes.

Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE) was down, falling 11.94 percent to $11.44 after Piper Jaffray reiterated the stock with an Underweight rating and lowered the price target from $9.50 to $4.50. 

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 0.50 percent to $103.55, while gold traded down 0.38 percent to $1,320.80. Silver traded down 0.41 percent Tuesday to $22.30, while copper fell 0.17 percent to $3.29.

Eurozone
European shares were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.67 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index declined 0.29 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.42 percent and the French CAC 40 declined 0.77 percent while U.K. shares dropped 1.11 percent.

Economics
The NFIB small-business optimism index declined to 93.9, versus a revised 94.1 in August. The ICSC-Goldman Sachs store sales index dropped 0.1% for the week ended Saturday versus the previous week. The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index fell 0.5% in September versus August. The Treasury is set to auction 3-year notes.

Posted-In: Earnings News Eurozone Commodities Econ #s Hot Intraday Update Markets Movers

(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  Around the Web, We're Loving... Petition urges Wal-Mart, McDonald's to pay more Obama's Syria Waffle Huge Blow to US Credibility in Mideast Microsoft Buys Nokia Phone Unit for $7.2B - And CEO? What Should You Know About AMZN? Most Popular Allied Nevada Gold Reports Record Gold Production, Sales in Q3, On Track for Gold Production 175-200K Oz, Silver Production 900K-1.1M Oz in 2013 UPDATE: J. C. Penney Company, Inc. Provides Update on Progress of Turnaround Tesla CEO Fights Fire with Statistics (TSLA) Investing in High Dividends and Revenue Growth (RDIV) The Hedge That Continues To Help JC Penney Longs UPDATE: Barclays Downgrades International Business Machines Awaiting Meaningful Revenue Growth Related Articles (CLNE + EXAS) Market Wrap For October 8: Nasdaq Dives As Default Likelihood Increases Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Off The Lows Following Obama Speech Mid-Day Market Update: Nasdaq Tumbles 1.7%; J.C. Penney Shares Gain Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Edge Lower; Wolverine Posts Upbeat Profit Benzinga's Top Pre-Market Losers Market Wrap For October 3: Dow Falls Below 15,000 On Debt Battle View the discussion thread. Partner Network #marketfy-ae-block { display: none; border: 2px solid #0a3f75; overflow: hidden; width: 300px; height: 125px; text-align: center; background-color: #45719E; position: relative; z-index: 1; } #marketfy-ae-block a { display: block; width: 300px; height: 125px; position: relative; z-index: 2; color: #ffffff; text-decoration: none; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown-text { color: #f9fc99; padding: 0px 0 0 0; font-size: 19px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19px; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown-text-start { font-size: 12px; } #marketfy-ae-block-countdown { padding: 5px 0 5px 0; font-size: 26px; } #marketfy-ae-block-signup { padding: 5px 47px; } #marketfy-ae-block-signup:hover { background-color: #457a1a; } #marketfy-ae-block #marketfy-ae-block-logo { display: block; padding: 3px 0 0 0; margin: 0; } #marketfy-ae-block-logo { text-indent: -9999px; } #marketfy-ae-block-free { display: block; position: absolute; top: 7px; right: -23px; width: 80px; height: 16px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; opacity: 1; -webkit-transform: rotate(45deg); -moz-transform: rotate(45deg); -ms-transform: rotate(45deg); transform: rotate(45deg); font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #333333; background-color: yellow; z-index: 500; text-shadow: 1px 1px #999999; } #marketfy-ae-block-arrow { position: relative; width: 60px; height: 60px; z-index: 10; margin: -80px 0 13px -21px; } #marketfy-ae-block-arrow img { height: 60px; width: auto; }