U.S. stock languish on weak earnings – AONE, PFE, GILD, MNST, SHE

It was a dull day in the stock markets as weak earnings coupled with the U.S. Fed Reserve keeping to its current course kept sentiments low.

U.S. stock ended lower for the second straight day on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) closed down 25.19 points, or 0.19 percent, at 13,077.34 The S&P 500(INDEXSP:.INX) fell 4.36 points, or 0.31 percent, at 1,408.75. The NASDAQ Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC)  slipped 8.77 points, or 0.29 percent, at 2,981.70.

The currency market did not have mc to cheer about either.

Unexpectedly weak German data saw the euro fall against the dollar and yen.

But the euro's declines were limited after Greece's finance minister said Athens had been given additional time by international lenders to impose its austerity cuts.

The euro hit a session low of $1.2918, the lowest in a week, before paring losses to last trade at $1.2972, down 0.1 percent for the day.

On the earnings side it was all rather bleak, with many companies issuing weaker outlooks for the current quarter.

Of the 161 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 60 percent have beaten analysts' estimates, a rate that is down from about 67 percent the past four quarters.

Earnings are expected to decline 2.2 percent compared with the year-ago quarter.

On the macro side the U.S. Fed said that it would keep interest rates near zero until mid-2015 and pledged to continue to support growth while the economy recovers.

It also proposed no changes to its $40 billion bond buying program of mortgage-backed debt to keep interest rates low and spur recovery.

A123 Systems, Inc.(NASDAQ:AONE) extended its downtrend in Wednesday’s session as well and slumped 33.33% to $0.108. The stock fell about 80% in one day last after filling for bankruptcy. However, in the next few sessions, the stock recovered about 280% on the news that the company automotive division was boughtby Johnson Controls Inc.

Pharma sector done well with Pfizer Inc.(NYSE:PFE) rose 0.50% to $25.30. Gilead Sciences, Inc.(NASDAQ:GILD) soared 5.30% afterRevenue rose more than 14 percent to $2.43 billion thanks mainly to sales of Atripla, Truvada and Viread. Net income fell to $675 million which works out to 85 cents a share compared to $741 million or 95 cents a share earned in the same period last year.

Monster Beverage Corp(NASDAQ:MNST) recovered 17% after the company defended the safety of its products. Investors fled the company earlier in the week on news that the Food and Drug Administration was investigating reports that five people died after drinking the company's caffeine-packed drinks.

Spartech Corporation(NYSE:SHE) spiked up 63% PolyOne Corp. reached an agreement to acquire the company for roughly $251 million in cash and stock as it looks to expand its specialty portfolio. PolyOne said it will pay $8 a Spartech share, a 56% premium 

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Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST) drink may have caused deaths, Shares Tumble

Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST), a widely consumed energy drink made by Monster beverages, may have been the cause of five deaths, according to a report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The energy drink contains high levels of caffeine and is consumed by people of all ages.

The report, it must be stressed, does not prove a link between Monster Energy and the deaths or health problems.

The records from the FDA was obtained by the mother of a 14-year old girl who died in December due to heart arrhythmia after drinking large cans of Monster Energy on two consecutive days.

According to a news report in the New York Times, the mother of the girl, Wendy Crosland, had filed a lawsuit against Monster Beverages, alleging that the company had failed to put out adequate warnings about the risk of consuming energy drinks.

It quoted a company spokeswoman as saying that its products were safe and not the cause of the teenager's death.

That spokeswoman, Judy Lin Sfetcu, said that Monster was “unaware of any fatality anywhere that has been caused by its drinks.”

In an interview to the paper FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said that they had received reports of five deaths possibly linked to the drink as well as another report of a heart attack. The reports cover a period of 2004 to June of this year.

However it was not clear whether the deaths were directly as a result of consuming the energy drinks or whether other factors such as alcohol or drugs were involved.

The recent findings are expected to increase the clamour for greater regulations of the energy drinks industry, in which beverage makers push their products especially among the youth.

Shares of the company tumbled 14.23% to $45.73 in Monday’s session.

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Stocks Of Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) While That Of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) Fall

Sirius XM Radio Inc(NASDAQ:SIRI) has raised its guidance for a subscriber gain of 1.8 million in 2012, up from its earlier prediction of a profit of 1.6 million.

It has also stated that it has added about 446,000 subscribers in the September quarter, finishing the period with a record of 23.4 million.

Mel Karmazin, the CEO said that the additions signify the best September quarter since Sirius and XM had merged in the July of 2008.

The firm is believed to have added 1.5 million subscribers in total so far in the year 2012. In the first 6 months, about 87% of revenues of Sirius XM came from subscriptions.

Shares of SIRI hit a new high of $2.76 in Wednesday’s session and closed at $2.75, up 4.56%.

In another news, shares of Monster Beverage Corp(NASDAQ:MNST)dropped on Wednesday after Stifel Nicolaus had reduced his rating on the energy drink maker, quoting the slow sales growth and the regulatory risks that are involved.

After years of growth, Monster seems to be facing a tough year, as Mark Astrachan, an analyst has noted. He has also observed that the regulatory risks remain for the firm, under the conditions that the New York’s state attorney general is probing into the marketing practices of Monster Beverages and several other energy drink makers.

Astrakhan has lowered his rating on the firm from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’. 

However, he expects the firm to achieve sales growth in the mid-teens through 2015, as the energy drink industry continues to grow in the US and abroad.

Energy drinks continue to b e a tiny [art of the carbonated soft drinks industry. It represents just 3% of total sales volume, as per the industry tracker Beverage Digest. However, while soda consumption has flagged in recent times, energy drinks seem to have taken flight.

Monster Beverages stocks dropped $3.11 to $53.63.

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