Bank of America Corp (BAC), Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO): Why Stocks Are Plummeting

Taken together, all of these reports were insufficient to counterbalance any concerns about a potential abatement of monetary easing by the Fed.

In terms of individual stocks, all but one of the Dow’s 30 components are lower this afternoon. Shares of Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) are leading the way down, dropping 2.4% at the time of writing. As my colleague John Grgurich discussed earlier, in addition to the general concerns weighing on the market, the nation’s second-largest bank is plagued by uncertainty related to an ongoing legal battle to have an $8.5 billion settlement approved by a judge in New York. If the settlement isn’t approved, the bank will be forced back to the negotiating table to potentially face added liability.

Alternatively, the best-performing Dow stock today is Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), which has given up earlier gains and dipped a relatively minor 0.4% Fellow Fool Dan Dzombak attributes this outperformance to comments made by the CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO)’s close competitor Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR), who is predicting a trend of rising spending in the sector. According to the Journal, when asked today at a technology conference in San Francisco why router demand would improve, Juniper CEO Kevin Johnson told investors that demand in its core business is “tracking above historical patterns.” Assuming this is true, it’s obviously good for Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), which sells similar products.

The article Why Stocks Are Plummeting originally appeared on Fool.com.

John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America. The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America.

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