Wow! This market is taking a beating. I was looking through companies at their 52 week lows and the list goes on an on. Many of these stocks are trading at prices that would have appeared unfathomable before last year. Some of these companies deserve their low share prices and others have been down unfairly. In this market it is difficult to tell the difference. Here are a few companies trading at or near their 52 week lows:
SunTrust Bank (STI) set a new 52 week low dropping to $7 per share today. There are fears that SunTrust will not pass the government’s stress test and will not qualify for future assistance.
Wells Fargo (WFC) dropped to $13.69 which is its lowest price in 12 years. I am still buying Wells shares because I think that the bank will be saved. It’s hard to have any conviction about any bank stock at these levels.
Capital One (COF) dropped below $10 and American Express (AXP) dropped to $13 amid concerns over rising credit card delinquencies. The pain is just beginning in the credit card industry. This makes me wonder about the credit card portfolios at Citigroup and Bank of America. They have already gotten TARP funds twice; any additional TARP funds may mean that nationalization is coming.
Dow Chemical (DOW) is down to $8.62 per share and now sports a market cap that is almost half of the proposed 15.3 billion dollar purchase price for Rohm & Haas.
United States Oil ETF (USO) is down to $23.45. Oil demand has fallen off a cliff. I don’t know how long this will last but it looks cheap at these levels.
General Electric (GE) is trading at $10.81. It could hit the single digits if the market keeps declining. The stock is yielding 10.80% and looks cheap if held for years.
US Bancorp (USB) hit $10.73 today.
