Closing Bell: There's been a stealth drop in oil prices

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July 28, 2016

Stocks were down earlier in the morning, and then inched up over the course of the day.

Ultimately, the S&P and Nasdaq finished up slightly, while the Dow tripped at the finish line.

Let's head to the scoreboard:

Dow: 18,456.35 (-15.82, -0.09%)
S&P 500: 2,170.06 (+3.48, +0.16%)
Nasdaq: 5,154.98 (+15.17, +0.30%)
WTI Crude oil: $41.12 (-0.80, -1.9%)
10-year Treasury yield: 1.510 (-0.005, -0.36%)

1. Homeownership in the US has never been lower. On Thursday, the Census Bureau's quarterly report showed that the share of Americans who own a home fell to 62.9% in the second quarter, matching 1965 for the lowest reading on record. The rate rose for two straight quarters at the end of last year before declining in the first two of 2016.

2. Google beat, and the stock jumped. The company reported revenue of $17.5 billion, compared to expectations of $16.9 billion, and earnings-per-share of $8.42, compared to $8.03 expected. The stock shot up 5% in after-hours.

3. Amazon beat, but shares were down and up. Amazon reported revenue of $30.4 billion, compared to expectations of $29.56 billion, and earnings-per-share of $1.78, compared to expectations of $1.11. Shares dipped as much as 4% in after hours before bouncing back up around 2.5%.

3. Ford whiffed on earnings, and sent a warning for the rest of the year. The automaker reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.52, missing analysts' estimates by eight cents, according to Bloomberg. Moreover, Ford said it expected a weaker-than-normal second half of the year, especially in the third quarter, because of risks including China's economy and the UK's vote to exit the European Union.

4. Whole Foods shares dropped after sales missed. The grocery-store chain reported fiscal-third-quarter sales totaling a record $3.7 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.37. Analysts had estimated that Whole Foods had revenue of $3.72 billion, according to Bloomberg.

5. Initial jobless claims rose more than expected. Initial jobless claims rose by 14,000 to 266,000 last week, according to the Labor Department. Economists had forecast that first-time claims for unemployment insurance increased last week to 262,000 from a downward revised 252,000, according to Bloomberg.

6. There's been a stealth drop in oil prices. WTI crude prices have fallen nearly 18% since their early-June peak of about $51.23 a barrel. Brent prices have dropped by about 16% over the same time period. A drop of over 20% is considered to be a bear market.

7. The dollar tumbled earlier in the morning. The US dollar index was down as low as 96.37 earlier in the morning, in the aftermath of the Fed's Wednesday decision to hold rates again.

Additionally:

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Yahoo is suddenly in a hiring frenzy despite layoffs and its sale to Verizon.