Stocks to Watch: BBY, HMA, THC & More
Take a look at some of Thursday's midday movers:
Best Buy continued to rally as talks to take the company private continued to grow.
Health care stocks were mixed following the Supreme Court’s sharply divided decisionto uphold the centerpiece of President Obama’s health care reform that requires most Americans to get insurance by 2014 or pay a financial penalty.
Health care insurers were lower. United Health,Wellpoint,Cigna,Aetna, and Humana moved to the downside.
Hospital operators were higher. HCA Holdings,Tenet Healthcare,Universal HealthServices,Health Management Associates, and Community Health Systems all gaining ground.
Medicaid stocks were higher. Amerigroup,Centene,Molina Healthcare, and Well Care HealthPlans all to the upside.
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| HCA HOLDINGS | --- | |||
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Drug stocks were lower. Pfizer,Eli Lilly,Bristol-Myers Squibb,Merck, and GlaxoSmithKline all losing ground.
Medical Device makers also lower. Medtronic,Boston Scientific,Stryker. and NuVasive all to the downside.
Restaurant stocks also took a hit. Industry groups said the insurance coverage mandate will cost them a lot of money in labor expenses. Higher costs for franchise chains cold make it more difficult to buy or build more locations. Chipotle ,Panera Bread ,Yum Brands , and Starbucks were all lower.
JPMorgan eased off its lows after CNBC reported that the bank's losses will likely be in the $4 billion to $6 billion range, less than the $9 billion initially reported by the New York Times. Still, other financials including Goldman Sachs,Morgan Stanley,Wells Fargo, and Citigroup were still lower.
European banks, including Barclay’s,UBS,Royal Bank of Scotland, and HSBC fell after British regulators escalated their probe into the manipulation of a key interest rate. Barclay’s has already been fined $453 million for manipulating the Libor rate.
