Why the Dow Took a 130-Point Beating Today

While January was the "Month of the Rising Market," encouraged by political compromises, an improving employment landscape, and strong corporate earnings, February may be the far less illustrious "Month of Taking Profits." After soaring to five-year highs last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average today suffered its worst single-day losses to date, losing 129 points, or 0.93%, to close at 13,880 on fears of European political discord.

One of only three companies in the Dow that's down for the year, Boeing had its day in the sun Monday as the sole Dow component to gain ground. The stock's recent fall on worries about the safety of its 787 Dreamliner makes it easier for shares to rally on optimistic news. Sometimes that comes in the form of a lawsuit: Boeing filed a $350 million suit today against a Russian space company it partnered with in a failed joint venture called Sea Launch.

Bank of America , after surging 3% Friday on impressive payroll numbers, dropped 2% on a combination of unflattering revelations. The first was news that B of A suffered a number of accessibility issues on its online, mobile, and phone platforms. The second is potentially even more disconcerting, as investors alleged the bank unethically failed to repurchase more than $30 billion worth of mortgages it should have been saddled with as a result of its Countrywide Financial purchase.

BlackBerry , the company formerly known as Research In Motion, surged 15% on news that influential investment firm Bernstein Research upgraded the stock, boosting its price target a whopping $10, from $12 to $22. Maybe this new "BBRY" symbol (formerly RIMM) isn't so bad after all.

Shares of Baidu fell slightly, trading 1.3% lower ahead of the after-hours quarterly earnings announcement. Unfortunately, results weren't what Wall Street expected, and the stock was down as much as 6% in late afternoon trading. Even as revenues surged 42% and profits jumped 36%, investors may have had elevated expectations for the company's earnings guidance, even as the latter met analyst expectations.

The article Why the Dow Took a 130-Point Beating Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor John Divine has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him on Twitter @divinebizkid and on Motley Fool CAPS @TMFDivine.The Motley Fool recommends Baidu. The Motley Fool owns shares of Baidu and Bank of America. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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