Worries about slowing global economic growth continued to affect U.S. Treasury bonds today. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond, which moves inversely to its price, fell 5 basis points to 2.41 percent today. That's lower than the yield on the three-month Treasury bill and suggests that bond investors expect a significant slowdown in the U.S. economy.
Stocks seesawed for much of the day and ended flat, buoyed perhaps by the summary of the Mueller report issued by Attorney General William Barr over the weekend. It arguably removes the threat of impeachment of President Trump.
The Dow index posted a gain of 0.06 percent today while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were down 0.08 percent and 0.07 percent respectively. The Entrepreneur Index™ closed the day up 0.17 percent.
The technology sector was weak for much of the day but an afternoon rally helped pare losses. Chipmakers NVIDIA Corp. and Analog Devices had some of the sharpest declines in the sector falling 2.1 percent and 2.0 percent respectively.
Akamai Technologies, the provider of content delivery and cloud security services, had the biggest decline on the Entrepreneur Index™. It dropped 2.96 percent after a Deutsche Bank analyst downgraded the stock to a sell rating. Alphabet Inc. (-1.04 percent) and Twitter (-1.3 percent) were also down sharply. Netflix (1.45 percent) and Facebook (1.19 percent) posted the biggest gains in the sector.
Homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. had one of the bigger gains on the Entrepreneur Index™ today, rising 2.52 percent. The stock has come to life as interest--and mortgage--rates have declined lately. Lower mortgage rates could spur demand from new homebuyers. D.R. Horton's stock is up 21.1 percent so far this year.
O'Reilly Auto Parts was also up nicely, rising 2.55 percent after a JP Morgan analyst added the stock to the firm's "focus list." The analyst suggested a harsh winter could boost demand for the company's products. O'Reilly's stock is up 12.1 percent this year and over 61 percent in the last twelve months.
L Brands, up 2.62 percent, had the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™ today. The stock has been one of the more volatile on the Entrepreneur Index™ lately as the retailer attempts to turnaround its struggling Victoria's Secret franchise.
Other good gains were posted by Ralph Lauren Corp. (1.96 percent), as well as food-makers Tyson Foods (1.28 percent) and J.M. Smucker Company (1.43 percent).
Tesla shares were down again today, falling 1.55 percent. The stock has dropped 21.8 percent this year as analysts continue to lower financial estimates for the vehicle manufacturer and price targets for the stock. The latest was RBC Capital Markets analyst Joseph Spak. He now expects Tesla to post a loss of 64 cents per share in the first quarter, and he set a price target of $210 for the stock -- nearly twenty percent lower than its current $260.
Other notable declines on the Entrepreneur Index™ included Fedex Corp., down 1.1 percent, and REIT Macerich Company, off 1.3 percent.