Atlantic International Partnership Headlines: Stock Market News for May 4, 2011

http://altlantic-internationalpartnership.com/2011/05/atlantic-international-partnership-headlines-stock-market-news-for-may-4-2011/On Tuesday, markets felt the pinch of disappointing quarterly results and the benchmarks slid a few points as investors feared profitability might drop over the coming quarters. Over the past couple of weeks, markets have remained upbeat, climbing to multi-year highs following robust corporate results. Additionally, a drop in crude prices weighed down the energy sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was the only gainer among the benchmarks as it edged up 0.2% to 12,807.51. The Standard & poor 500 dropped 0.3% and the Nasdaq slipped 0.8% to settle at 1,356.62 and 12,807.51, respectively. After hitting its highest level in three years last week, the S&P 500 has now declined for two-straight days. On the New York Stock Exchange, composite volumes were at 4.5 billion shares. For every one stock that advanced on the NYSE, two stocks declined.
While earnings had been a favorable factor for the markets over the past few weeks, the markets had to suffer the flip side as companies posted lower-than-expected results yesterday. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE – Analyst Report) (2.8%) was one of the biggest laggards for the Dow as it failed to beat sales estimates. Joining the list of disappointing results were companies like Clorox Corporation (NYSE:CLX – Analyst Report), Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP – Analyst Report), Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE:BZH – Snapshot Report) and Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD – Analyst Report). These shares dropped 3.6%, 6.0%, 5.0% and 9.9%, respectively.