As War, Weak Bonds Hit Market, Investors Head to McDonald’s, P&G

Gloomy international news about the war in the Middle East dominated the headlines and created negative sentiment that hurt stocks, but it was the weakness in bonds that did big damage on Wednesday. New 12-month lows expanded to around 585 names, and all the indexes took sizable hits, with the Russell 2000 hit the hardest with a loss of 2.2%. The only safe haven were some energy names and some beaten-down consumer stocks like Procter & Gamble and McDonald's , a holding in the Action Alerts PLUS portfolio.