Dow Slips Below 15000; CalAmp Jumps On Upbeat Results

Midway through trading Thursday, the Dow traded down 1.07 percent to 14,971.30 while the NASDAQ declined 1.33 percent to 3,764.44. The S&P also fell, dropping 1.19 percent to 1,673.78.

Top Headline
Constellation Brands (STZ) reported a better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter profit.

Constellation's quarterly profit surged to $1.522 billion, or $7.74 per share, from $124.6 million, or $0.71 per share, in the year-ago period. Its adjusted earnings came in at $0.96 per share in the quarter.

Its net sales rose to $1.46 billion from $698.5 million. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.88 per share on sales of $1.53 billion. Constellation now projects FY14 adjusted earnings of $2.80 to $3.10 per share.

Equities Trading UP
CalAmp (CAMP) shot up 13.48 percent to $21.21 after the company reported upbeat fiscal second-quarter results.

Shares of VIVUS (VVUS) got a boost, shooting up 10.41 percent to $11.25 after Cowen & Company upgraded the stock from Market Perform to Outperform.

ICG Group (ICGE) was also up, gaining 11.13 percent to $15.58 after the company announced the sale of Procurian to Accenture plc (ACN) for $375 million in cash.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) were down 5.73 percent to $13.00. The company reported that it will be the first company to commercially distribute a transportation fuel made from waste.

HCP (HCP) shares tumbled 3.38 percent to $40.36. HCP named Lauralee Martin as its President and Chief Executive Officer.

Imax (IMAX) was down, falling 5.35 percent to $26.88 after Cormark Securities downgraded the stock from Market Perform to Reduce.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.69 percent to $103.38, while gold traded down 0.38 percent to $1,315.70.

Silver traded down 1.08 percent Thursday to $21.66, while copper fell 1.60 percent to $3.26.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.61 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.44 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.44 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.73 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.06 percent.

Economics
US initial claims rose by 1,000 to 308,000 in the week ended September 28. However, economists were projecting claims to increase to 313,000 last week.

The Bloomberg Consumer Confidence Index declined to -29.40 for the week ended September 29, versus a prior reading of -28.10.

The ISM non-manufacturing index dropped to 54.40 in September, from a prior reading of 58.60. However, economists were expecting a reading of 57.00.

Natural-gas supplies increased 101 billion cubic feet for the week ended September 27, the US Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were expecting an increase of 98 billion cubic feet.

BY Jake L'Ecuyer