Today's 3 Worst Stocks in the S&P 500

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

The current state of the labor market isn't anything to brag about, but it seems to be improving steadily. Data today showed monthly jobless claims reached their lowest point since 2007, a stat that gave the S&P 500 Index a reprieve from its five-day losing streak. By day's end, the benchmark index was up 5 points, or 0.4%, to end at 1,698.

Jabil Circuit was the S&P's most severe decliner, plunging 9.9%. The components manufacturer is coping with the floundering market share of BlackBerry, which is Jabil's second-largest account. With BlackBerry going private as it struggles to compete with larger competitors, Jabil forecast weak revenue in the upcoming quarter, causing Thursday's sharp sell-off.

Telecommunications player Windstream shed 4.3%, though the decline had little to do with fundamental business problems like Jabil's. Windstream's stock went ex-dividend today, meaning that anyone who owned the stock at the market's close yesterday could sell it today and still receive the next quarterly dividend. With Windstream rewarding investors to the tune of $0.25 per share per quarter, about 2.9% of the stock's decline could have been expected..

Lastly, shares of data storage company Western Digital fell 3.2% a day after news of its CFO's departure broke. Wolfgang Nicki, a man with an exemplary name and a fine track record at the company, has been with Western Digital for nearly 20 years. To add insult to injury, Western Digital shares were taken off Longbow Research's "Best Ideas List," its stock having been vaulted by rival Seagate Technology.

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The article Today's 3 Worst Stocks in the S&P 500 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 owns shares of Western Digital. 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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