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The Russell 2000 fell 14 points, or 1.2% to 1,158 on Friday and is trading more than 10% below its June 23 peak, meeting a widely-used definition of a correction. This is the second such correction since last October, when the index of small-cap stocks fell more than 13%. The Russell 2000 is often seen as a leading indicator of the direction the broader market. The benchmark S&P 500 has moved mostly sideways from the beginning of the year, but this week’s steep losses pushed the benchmark into negative territory for the year. The S&P 500 is now down more than 5% from its May 21 peak.

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From:: Stock Market News

Consumer discretionary stocks led a broad market decline on Friday and was the worst-performing sector on the S&P 500 in early trade. Ross Stores Inc. tumbled 7% after offering a weak outlook for the second half and predicting rivals will increase discounts. Wynn Resorts Ltd. shed 3.3%, Under Armour Inc. shares fell 2.6%, Walt Disney Co. lost 2.5% and Starbucks Corp. was down 2.6%. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund fell 1.6%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Shares of Netflix Inc. opened at $105, down 6%, on Friday after its worst one-day decline since stocks fell 8.3% on Sept. 16 2011, according to data from FactSet. Netflix shares slumped 7.8% on Thursday as the media sector suffered losses across the board. The Walt Disney Co. , which fell more than 6% on Thursday, and Time Warner Inc. , which dropped more than 5%, led the downward charge as uncertainty about the industry led Bernstein analysts to downgrade the two companies to market perform from outperform and re-assess the future of the sector. BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield on Thursday said that Netflix was simply being dragged down by the loss in confidence in the media industry. He believes the streaming giant is a good buy on the dip. The Guardian reported that Netflix has caused an outcry for excluding its roughly 450 DVD-by-mail service employees from its unlimited paid maternity and paternity leave. Earlier this week, Netflix raised subscription fees in some European markets by about $1.13, or one euro, for new customers. Netflix shares are up 115% in the year to date, while the S&P is down 2%.

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From:: Stock Market News

The Canadian dollar edged higher Friday after the release of two widely watched pieces of Canadian economic data: consumer-price inflation for July, and retail-sales figures for June. The loonie jumped to 76.56 cents, its highest level of the session, from 76.30 cents just before the data. Retail-sales rose by 0.6% in June, double the consensus estimate from a survey of economists conducted by The Wall Street Journal. Consumer prices increased by 0.1% in July, missing a consensus estimate for 0.2% growth. Core consumer-price inflation, a reading that strips out volatile food and energy prices, was flat. The Canadian economy has struggled with weakening economic growth recently as the price of crude oil, a major export, has plumbed multiyear lows.

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From:: Stock Market News

Sterne Agee CRT analyst Sam Poser applauded Skechers USA Inc.’s move to split its stock 3 for 1, saying it will “increase the liquidity of the stock and make the stock more attractive to larger investors.” The shoe seller’s shares soared from around $50 to over $150 in a year. While stock splits don’t reflect any changes in fundamentals, it can allow for investors to increase the number of shares they buy, with the same amount of money, or the number they sell, which increases liquidity. Poser reiterated his buy rating, and pre-split stock price target of $185, which is 26% above Thursday’s closing price. “We remain hopeful that there are more shareholder friendly moves to come including possible share repurchases and/or returning cash dividends. Skechers currently does not pay a dividend. The stock has nearly tripled year to date, while the S&P 500 has slipped 1.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Symantec Corp. was upgraded to equal-weight and its price target raised to $24 at Morgan Stanley on Friday on optimism that risks related to the company’s restructuring plan have been priced into the stock. The bank also believes that Symantec’s $8 billion sale of Veritas makes the remaining security business a more focused and streamlined unit that allows management greater flexibility with how it uses cash. The upgrade puts Morgan Stanley in line with the vast majority of Wall Street. The average rating and price target on Symantec’s stock among a poll of 25 analysts on FactSet is the equivalent to hold and $24.19, respectively. The cyber security company reported a worse-than-expected 14% year-over-year decline in quarterly revenue last week. While Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss said Symantec still has “a lot of work to do,” he said the sale of Veritas makes Symantec much more attractive to investors with “more limited downside.”

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From:: Stock Market News

VirnetX Holding Corp. is not waiting to gather buying interest before selling its shares, as it filed for an at-the-market offering of up to $35 million worth of its common stock. The Internet security software company’s stock tumbled 20% in premarket trade, putting it on track to open at the lowest level since Jan. 4, 2010. An at-the-money offering means the company can sell shares of common stock, through its broker Cowen & Co., at market prices. VirnetX intends to use the proceeds from the sale of shares for the development and marketing of its Gabriel product and other general corporate purposes. At Thursday’s closing price of $3.73, the $35 million offering implies about 9.38 million shares, which represents about 18% of the shares outstanding. The stock has lost 32% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500 has slipped 1.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Analysts at J.P. Morgan believe that excitement surrounding AMC Network’s latest spin-off “Fear the Walking Dead” is enough to bump the network’s price target to $87 from $81. “We believe the series premiere on Sunday of the new series and next five episodes in the first season will likely have strong ratings given the passionate viewer base for the original series ‘The Walking Dead,’ which drew an impressive 14.4 million average total viewers in its recent fifth season,” J.P. Morgan analyst Alexia Quadrani said in a note. Quadrani cites an article from Ad Age that said “Fear the Walking Dead,” which will premiere at 9 p.m. est on Sunday, garnered about $325,000 per 30-second spot from advertisers during its upfronts, and $370,000 in the scatter market, implying nearly $45 million in advertising revenues for the first six episodes of the first season. “The Walking Dead,” in its most recent fifth season, set a price of $415,000 per 30-second spot, according to J.P. Morgan. Quadrani said that the first two episodes of the show have gotten mixed reviews, but she believes it will be a slow-burn and take a few episodes to hit its stride.

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From:: Stock Market News

Athletic footwear retailer Foot Locker Inc. reported Friday a fiscal second-quarter profit that rose to $119 million, or 84 cents a share, from $92 million, or 63 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. That beat the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of 69 cents. Sales for the quarter ended Aug. 1 increased 3.3% to $1.7 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.66 billion, while same-store sales growth of 9.6% was well above expectations of a 5.9% rise. Gross margin improved by 0.6 percentage points to 32.6%, as expenses declined. “We extended the momentum with which we started 2015, generating outstanding quarterly sales and profits in the second quarter,” said Chief Executive Richard Johnson. “We continued to achieve broad-based and consistent strength across geographies, banners, channels, and categories.” The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has soared 28% year to date, while the S&P 500 has slipped 1.1%.

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From:: Stock Market News

Farm equipment company Deere & Co. said Friday it had net income of $511.6 million, or $1.53 a share, in its fiscal third quarter ended July 31, down from $850.7 million, or $2.33 a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales fell 20% to $7.594 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of $1.44 and sales of $7.146 billion. The numbers “reflected the continuing impact of the downturn in the farm economy as well as lower demand for construction equipment,” Chief Executive Samuel Allen said in a statement. Looking ahead, the company is expecting fourth-quarter equipment sales to fall about 24%. Full-year net profit is forecast at $1.8 billion. “We believe our steady investment in new products and geographies will make Deere the provider of choice for a growing global customer base and that the impact of these actions will become increasingly clear when our end markets recover,” said Allen. Shares fell about 1.6% in premarket trade, but are up 2.5% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has lost 1.1%.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News