Why the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) Is Tumbling Today

Yet the best-performing stock on the index is Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), which is soaring 2.4% after it gained nearly 4% yesterday. As my colleague Max Macaluso noted yesterday, the moves follow a report of “overwhelmingly positive interim results for its experimental melanoma drug lambrolizumab.” And as fellow Fool Dan Caplinger discussed today, the continued momentum is likely a result of the realization that “yesterday’s news on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) isn’t just about a single treatment, but rather an entire new class of treatments that stimulate the PD-1 protein within a patient’s body in order to fight cancer.”

Meanwhile, among the many stocks dropping today is Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC). The nation’s second-largest bank by assets is in the midst of a critical trial which will determine whether an $8.5 billion settlement reached in 2011 will be affirmed by a judge or whether the parties must go back to the drawing board. If it’s not affirmed, it’s safe to say that Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) will be exposed to billions of dollars’ worth of additional liability, as well as heightened legal expenses.

The article Why the Dow Is Tumbling Today originally appeared on Fool.com is written by John Maxfield.

John Maxfield owns shares of Bank of America and Intel. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America and Intel.

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