Market Madness Day Two: First Solar and Bank of America Advance to the Next Round

The madness rolls on! Yesterday saw BOTH number one seeds fall in our Blue Chip Bracket and Cinderella Bracket, and the Cinderella Bracket had all three of the top three seeds drop their first-round match up. Now, the “games” keep rolling along for Market Madness with the Mid Major Bracket and the Road to Redemption Bracket both play their first rounds today.

Mid Majors Bracket

(1) Cobalt International Energy (CIE) +6.93 percent over (16) The Gap (GPS) -0.98 percent

(15) Valero Energy (VLO) -0.11 percent over (2) Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) -0.36 percent

(14) Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) -0.57 percent over (3) RSC Holdings (RRR) -1.05 percent

(13) Bank of America (BAC) +6.06 percent over (4) Seagate Technology (STX) +0.49 percent

(5) Cheniere Energy (LNG) +1.34 percent over (12) Netflix (NFLX) -0.19 percent

(6) Illumina (ILMN) -0.08 percent over (11) Fossil (FOSL) -1.59 percent

(7) Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) -0.85 percent over (10) Lululemon Athletica (LULU) -2.96 percent

(9) Tata Motors (TTM) -0.31 percent over (8) Youku (YOKU) -4.38 percent

Finally! A one seed wins its first round match-up! Cobalt Energy performed like it earned a top seed (not that it really did, but still). Cobalt’s nearly 7 percent gain resulted helped it trounce the 16th seeded khaki merchant The Gap. However, the Mid Major Bracket wasn’t devoid of upsets as the two, three, and four seed all went down in the first round. Bank of America, having recently passed the Fed’s stress tests, has the makings of a Cinderella team ready for a string of upsets.

Road to Redemption Bracket

(16) R.R. Donnelley & Sons (RRD) +2.10 percent over (1) Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) +0.37 percent

(2) Baker Hughes (BHI) 2.86 percent over (15) United Therapeutics (UTHR) +0.78 percent

(3) Alcoa (AA) +1.84 over (14) DeVry (DV) +1.54 percent

(4) Carnival (CCL) -0.22 percent over (13) Southwest Airlines (LUV) -1.66 percent

(12) Peabody Energy (BTU) 4.86 percent over (5) Yahoo (YHOO) +1.98 percent

(6) First Solar (FSLR) +4.45 percent over (11) US Steel (X) +0.34 percent

(7) Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) +4.08 percent over (10) Inergy (NRGY) +0.69 percent

(8) Arch Coal (ACI) +0.49 percent over (9) NII Holdings (NII) -3.00 percent

And, once again, the bracket’s top seed doesn’t make it out of the first round. So, all told, three of the four one seeds go down in their first match up. However, RR Donnelley & Sons taking down Hewlett-Packard and Peabody Energy beating Yahoo were the only two upsets in the Road to Redemption Bracket. After the first three brackets offered up a series of major upsets, this bracket kept things simple.

Day Two Wrap Up

So the sole surviving one seed is Cobalt International as the bracket chugs along. Tune in on Monday as the Blue Chip Bracket and the Cinderella Bracket enter the second round. By the end of Tuesday, the Sweet Sixteen will be set!