Stocks Sink After Boehner Backs Syria Strike
It looked like stock markets were going to start off the week sharply higher today until House Speaker John Boehner said he would support President Obama's request to use force in Syria. Then we went back to the old war-fearing sell-off. Late in the trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up just 0.17%, and the S&P 500 is up 0.43%.
Economic data was fairly strong today, and a rash of M&A activity over the weekend should have given the market a bit of a boost, but Syria has overshadowed that for a week now. Purchasing managers' indexes released by Markit and the Institute for Supply Management read 53.1 and 55.7%, respectively, both indicating economic expansion in August.
Positive PMI data and the possibility that the Department of Defense will loosen its purse strings to pay for an attack in Syria have pushed United Technologies 2.6% higher today. Pratt & Whitney is the company's second-largest division, and UTC Aerospace Systems also generates a significant amount of revenue from the military, so an increase in spending would definitely help operations. Most people aren't rooting for war in Syria, but if it happens, United Technologies will benefit financially.
The big loser today is Microsoft after it announced that it will buy Nokia's handset business. Think what you will about the deal, but keep in mind that with Microsoft's stock down 5.1% today, its market cap is down about $19 billion. Considering the fact that Microsoft is only paying $7.2 billion for Nokia, the market currently thinks this will destroy another $12 billion in value. That's wildly overblown, even if the Microsoft-Nokia merger doesn't result in strong growth in the handset business.
What this deal does show is that to compete with Google, Samsung, and Apple in the mobile business, Microsoft had to expand its own capabilities in tablets and handsets. Now Microsoft will have downstream demand for its mobile operating system, and Nokia will have a much bigger, better balance sheet to work with. Both may be required for the survival of Microsoft-Nokia mobile devices in a world dominated by tech behemoths. Find out if Microsoft can win in "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?" In this free report, you'll find out which companies are set to dominate mobile. To grab a copy, simply click here -- it's free!
The article Stocks Sink After Boehner Backs Syria Strike originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Travis Hoium manages an account that owns shares of Apple and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Apple and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Google, and Microsoft. 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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