3 Stocks That Led the Dow Downward

It's hard to be too disappointed about today's drop in the stock market. With today marking the end of a quarter in which the broader U.S. stock market gained almost 6%, seeing the Dow Jones Industrials (INDEX: ^DJI) give back almost 50 points doesn't seem particularly significant. Although today's news from the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index added to a string of weak results on regional manufacturing activity, it's too early to tell whether Federal Reserve intervention in conjunction with similar moves from overseas central banks will have the intended effect of boosting the global economy.

But for some Dow stocks, the losses were a bit more extreme. Bank of America (NYS: BAC) fell nearly 2% on the session as news from Europe on the state of the Spanish banking sector weighed on financials generally. Yet according to analysts, banks like B of A and Citigroup (NYS: C) have made substantial profits during the third quarter, with a long-awaited rise in home prices starting to relieve pressure on long-stressed balance sheets.

Intel (NAS: INTC) also dropped nearly 2% as it continues to face controversy regarding a Bloomberg report earlier in the week about Intel CEO Paul Otellini reportedly saying that the Windows 8 operating system isn't really ready but that Microsoft is right to go ahead and release it anyway. Intel denied the report, but the key for the chip giant is that it really needs Windows 8 to go well if it wants to reassert its dominance in the PC market.

Finally, McDonald's (NYS: MCD) couldn't recover from negative comments from analysts and ended down 1.7%. Although the concern about the stock arises from the fact that McDonald's will face some tough comparisons versus year-ago results, long-term investors should be pleased that the fast-food giant has put together a strong base of success. In fact, hoping for a short-term downturn may give opportunistic investors a chance to buy shares on the cheap.

Get right back up
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The article 3 Stocks That Led the Dow Downward originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributorDan Caplingerdoesn't own shares of the companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on Twitter,@DanCaplinger. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft, Citigroup, McDonald's, Bank of America, and Intel.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Microsoft, Intel, and McDonald's, as well as creating a synthetic covered call position in Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Fool has adisclosure policy.

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