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U.S. stocks were slammed Wednesday after the World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus a pandemic, Goldman Sachs predicted the end of a long bull market and Boeing suffered from concern over liquidity.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -5.86% skidded 1,465 points (or 5.9%) to close at 23,553.22, falling into a bear market. Boeing BA, -18.15% led the Dow lower with a brutal 18% decline after Bloomberg reported the troubled aviation giant planned to draw the entire $13.8 billion credit line extended by a group of banks last month.
The S&P 500 Index SPX, -4.89% fell 4.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index NDX, +3.00% tumbled 4.7%.
The World Health Organization said that with over 121,000 infections globally, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 had become a pandemic. The WHO had characterized the illness, which broke out in Wuhan, China, late last year, as a series of epidemics.
David Kostin of Goldman Sachs set a midyear target of 2,450 for the S&P 500, which would be a 28% decline from the intraday record high of 3,393.52 set Feb. 19. (The benchmark index was down 19.2% from that intraday high through Wednesday’s close.)
Kostin, the investment bank’s chief equity strategist, wrote in a note to clients: “After 11 years, 13% annualized earnings growth and 16% annualized trough-to-peak appreciation, we believe the S&P 500 bull market will soon end.”
But he expects a new bull market will begin during the second half of 2020 and has a year-end target for the benchmark index of 3,200. That would make for a 1% decline for 2020 (excluding dividends) and a 6% decline from the S&P 500’s intraday record high Feb. 19.
West Texas intermediate crude oil for April delivery declined 4% to settle at $35.79 a barrel, as U.S. oil supplies increased for a seventh straight week.
Dow 30
All 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down Wednesday:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – March 11, 2020 | Price change since Feb. 19 | Decline from 52-week high | Price change – 2020 | Price change – 2019 |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -18.15% | -18.2% | -44.1% | -55.3% | -42.0% | 1.0% |
| Dow Inc. | DOW, -10.86% | -10.9% | -41.1% | -53.8% | -48.9% | N/A |
| United Technologies Corp. | UTX, -9.94% | -9.9% | -28.7% | -32.1% | -28.2% | 40.6% |
| Cisco Systems Inc. | CSCO, -7.56% | -7.6% | -20.0% | -36.4% | -22.7% | 10.7% |
| American Express Co. | AXP, -7.67% | -7.7% | -30.3% | -30.9% | -23.4% | 30.6% |
| Procter & Gamble Co. | PG, -7.43% | -7.5% | -11.1% | -12.9% | -10.7% | 35.9% |
| Pfizer Inc. | PFE, -7.00% | -7.0% | -11.2% | -27.8% | -17.9% | -10.2% |
| Walt Disney Co. | DIS, -5.34% | -5.3% | -25.3% | -31.2% | -27.0% | 31.9% |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ, -6.95% | -7.1% | -11.6% | -14.8% | -9.7% | 13.0% |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. | WBA, -6.29% | -6.3% | -11.5% | -28.6% | -21.9% | -13.7% |
| McDonald’s Corp. | MCD, -5.81% | -5.9% | -12.7% | -15.2% | -4.8% | 11.3% |
| Visa Inc. Class A | V, -5.28% | -5.3% | -18.9% | -19.3% | -8.0% | 42.4% |
| Travelers Companies Inc. | TRV, -5.83% | -5.8% | -16.3% | -27.4% | -17.8% | 14.4% |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. | GS, -6.76% | -6.8% | -27.6% | -31.4% | -25.3% | 37.6% |
| International Business Machines Corp. | IBM, -5.45% | -5.5% | -21.8% | -25.7% | -12.0% | 17.9% |
| Home Depot Inc. | HD, -5.04% | -5.7% | -12.6% | -13.9% | -2.5% | 27.1% |
| Nike Inc. Class B | NKE, -4.87% | -4.9% | -18.0% | -20.5% | -17.1% | 36.6% |
| Walmart Inc. | WMT, -4.47% | -4.5% | -2.8% | -8.7% | -3.7% | 27.6% |
| Microsoft Corp. | MSFT, -4.53% | -4.5% | -18.0% | -19.4% | -2.6% | 55.3% |
| Caterpillar Inc. | CAT, -5.45% | -5.4% | -26.4% | -33.1% | -31.8% | 16.2% |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | JPM, -4.71% | -4.7% | -30.2% | -32.0% | -31.2% | 42.8% |
| Intel Corp. | INTC, -4.30% | -4.3% | -23.0% | -25.4% | -13.7% | 27.5% |
| Coca-Cola Co. | KO, -2.70% | -2.7% | -12.6% | -13.2% | -5.7% | 16.9% |
| Merck & Co. Inc. | MRK, -3.38% | -3.4% | -3.4% | -14.5% | -12.9% | 19.0% |
| Apple Inc. | AAPL, -3.47% | -3.5% | -14.9% | -16.0% | -6.2% | 86.2% |
| Exxon Mobil Corp. | XOM, -3.29% | -3.3% | -30.4% | -49.7% | -39.8% | 2.3% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. | VZ, -2.99% | -3.0% | -5.8% | -11.9% | -10.7% | 9.2% |
| Chevron Corp. | CVX, -2.29% | -2.3% | -25.0% | -34.8% | -31.1% | 10.8% |
| 3M Co. | MMM, -3.95% | -3.9% | -7.6% | -33.0% | -16.5% | -7.4% |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc. | UNH, -0.79% | -0.8% | -9.0% | -9.4% | -5.5% | 18.0% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
You can click on the tickers for full coverage of each company.
UnitedHealth Group UNH, -0.79% held up best. As support builds for former Vice President Joe Biden to be the Democratic presidential nominee, fewer investors fear Bernie Sanders’ vision for socialized medicine. MarketWatch’s Howard Gold called health-care stocks “screaming buys” Wednesday.
S&P 500
All but eight of the S&P 500 stocks were down Wednesday. Here are the day’s 10 worst performers:
| Company | Ticker | Price change – March 11, 2020 | Price change since Feb. 19 | Decline from 52-week high | Price change – 2020 | Price change – 2019 |
| Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. | NCLH, -26.68% | -26.7% | -71.1% | -74.9% | -74.3% | 37.8% |
| Apache Corp. | APA, -23.54% | -23.7% | -71.1% | -78.4% | -67.8% | -2.5% |
| Noble Energy Inc. | NBL, -20.09% | -20.1% | -60.9% | -73.9% | -70.2% | 32.4% |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -18.15% | -18.2% | -44.1% | -55.3% | -42.0% | 1.0% |
| Occidental Petroleum Corp. | OXY, -17.71% | -17.7% | -72.2% | -82.9% | -71.4% | -32.9% |
| Live Nation Entertainment Inc. | LYV, -16.58% | -16.6% | -44.8% | -45.2% | -41.2% | 45.1% |
| TechnipFMC Plc | FTI, -15.74% | -15.8% | -53.4% | -71.9% | -62.6% | 9.5% |
| Darden Restaurants Inc. | DRI, -15.00% | -15.0% | -41.8% | -45.3% | -35.6% | 9.2% |
| Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. | RCL, -14.13% | -14.1% | -60.0% | -67.2% | -66.8% | 36.5% |
| Ventas Inc. | VTR, -13.61% | -13.6% | -35.8% | -49.6% | -34.2% | -1.5% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
Nasdaq
Here are Wednesday’s worst-performing components of the Nasdaq-100 Index NDX, -4.37% :
| Company | Ticker | Price change – March 11, 2020 | Price change since Feb. 19 | Decline from 52-week high | Price change – 2020 | Price change – 2019 |
| Align Technology Inc. | ALGN, -11.39% | -11.4% | -17.7% | -39.6% | -27.5% | 33.2% |
| Expedia Group Inc. | EXPE, -10.78% | -10.8% | -29.5% | -46.8% | -29.1% | -4.0% |
| Microchip Technology Inc. | MCHP, -9.92% | -9.9% | -25.8% | -34.7% | -29.9% | 45.6% |
| Western Digital Corp. | WDC, -9.63% | -9.6% | -28.2% | -37.3% | -28.9% | 71.7% |
| Starbucks Corp. | SBUX, -8.78% | -9.0% | -16.9% | -31.7% | -22.5% | 36.5% |
| Marriott International Inc. Class A | MAR, -8.97% | -9.0% | -25.5% | -34.7% | -33.9% | 39.5% |
| Splunk Inc. | SPLK, -8.72% | -8.7% | -24.1% | -31.5% | -19.4% | 42.8% |
| Micron Technology Inc. | MU, -8.65% | -8.7% | -20.2% | -28.6% | -18.7% | 69.5% |
| Illumina Inc. | ILMN, -8.26% | -8.3% | -11.6% | -35.4% | -25.8% | 10.6% |
| MercadoLibre Inc. | MELI, -8.07% | -8.1% | -19.3% | -27.2% | -3.7% | 95.3% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
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