Stocks Edge Lower as Wall Street Awaits the Outcome of Crimea Referendum

Results from Friday, March 14

?     Standard & Poor’s 500: -0.28 percent to 1,841.13

?     Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.27 percent to 16,065.67

?     NASDAQ Exchange: -0.35 percent to 4,245.40

Only one week after setting a new all-time high, the benchmark S&P 500 continued to slide as stocks fell across the board for yet another day. The increasingly shrill tit-for-tat exchange of threats between Russia and the US in recent days has left investors with no choice but to run for cover, and anxiously wait for the outcome of Sunday’s referendum that is to decide the fate of Eastern Ukraine’s Crimean region.  Not helping matters was the Labor Department’s disappointing announcement that wholesale prices in the US dropped during the month of February, for the first decline in three months, which was in defiance of expectations for gains.

Our Top Stories

?     Senior Editor Jacob Harper extrapolates 3 important financial lessons from his viewing of the popular TV series “Game of Thrones”.

?     Equities.com contributor John Mauldin has a timely bit of advice for investors who might be tempted downplay risks in the present climate.

?     Executive Editor Henry Truc tells readers what to expect from the upcoming REISA Spring Symposium on alternative investments.

?     The Energy Report files this missive about growing bullishness around Canada’s uranium-rich Athabasca Basin.

?     Frequent contributor Dennis Miller put together a list of five warning signs to keep an eye out for when working with an investment advisor.

?     The Gold Report has a must read interview for commodities investors with the transcript of its conversation with four industry thought-leaders on the takeaways from this year’s PDAC conference in Toronto.

Stocks

?     BP plc (BP) had an underwhelming day despite the fact that the EPA has agreed to let it bid on new contracts in the Gulf of Mexico following a four-year ban.

?     Red-hot Chinese insurer CNinsure (CISG) ended the day over 5 percent lower after a week of massive gains that followed the release of its fourth-quarter earnings earlier in the week.

?     Social media phenom Twitter (TWTR) fell another 3 percent by the closing bell, as the stock seems to be searching for a more realistic valuation.

?     Five companies from the Equities.com Small-CapStars Materials index that have gained in the face of geopolitical tension.

?     Biotech firm Raptor Pharmaceuticals (RPTP) had a rough day after releasing its results from the recently ended period.