Supercommittee Skunks Wall Street — Monday’s IP Market Recap

The almost-routine political indecision from Washington took its toll on
domestic markets Monday, with the congressional supercommittee charged with
deciding on $1.2 trillion in spending cuts admitting almost certain failure
Sunday. An official announcement came shortly after markets closed on Monday
two days before the official deadline that would trigger across-the-board
federal spending cuts, most likely not taking effect until in 2013. The
supercommittees flop hammered markets already on shaky ground, thanks to
mounting European debt woes. The Dow Jones was sent spiraling as much as 300
points, finishing the day down 248 points and at its lowest point since
mid-October. The S&P 500 Index also shed about 2% and reached early October
levels. Numerous tech stocks were hit hard Monday. Embattled BlackBerry maker
Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM ) reached a new 52-week low, dropping about
4.5% to finish at $17.36. Tech stocks Sony (NYSE: SNE ) and Netflix (NASDAQ:
NFLX ) also found new basements, with NFLX shares shedding about 4.6% to fall to
$74.47, and SNE dropping almost 4% to end the day at $16.28. Hewlett-Packard
(NYSE: HPQ ) found itself trying to scream above the noise Monday after the
bell. HPQ reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.17 per share on revenue of
$32.1 billion both figures down from last year, when it earned $1.33 per share
on $33.28 billion. Still, Hewlett-Packard beat Wall Street EPS estimates by four
cents, and HPQ shares were up about 2% after hours unfortunately, those gains
were going toward clawing out of the 4% hole it dug during trading hours. HPQ
finished Monday at $26.86. One of the few winners Monday was pharmaceutical
company Pharmasset (NASDAQ: VRUS ), which gained about 85% after the
announcement of an $11 billion buyout by Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD ). VRUS
is working on the first oral treatment for hepatitis C, a disease that affects
more than 180 million people. Gilead investors apparently weren't immediately
hot on the deal, as GILD shares fell to $36.26, shedding about 9%. Three Up
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA ): Up 5.03% (70 cents) to $14.63. Green Mountain Coffee
Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR ): Up 4.88% ($2.46) to $52.91. SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI ):
Up 4.04% ($1.21) to $31.14. Three Down Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN ): Down 7.96%
($9.69) to $112.07. Nokia (NYSE: NOK ): Down 7.53% (49 cents) to $6.02. Yanzhou
Coal Mining (NYSE: YZC ): Down 6.34% ($1.57) to $23.20. As of this writing, Kyle
Woodley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. Check out
our list of previous IP Market Recaps .