Perhaps only the Carolina Panthers hurt more than the market did Monday. At one point in the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 400 points before recovering some of its losses to close down 178 points, or 1.1%. The S&P 500 closed down 1.4%, the Nasdaq down 1.8% and oil down 2.78% to just over $30 a barrel.
The big story of the day was Chesapeake Energy (CHK), which closed down 33% to $2.04. The stock was halted multiple times on Monday and at one point was down more than 50% on reports that Oklahoma-based natural gas company hired Kirkland & Ellis as its bankruptcy attorney. In mid-morning trading, Chesapeake Energy issued a statement in which it said it had no plans file for bankruptcy protection and that it has been a client of Kirkland & Ellis since 2010. While shares rebounded somewhat, investors still weren't comforted by the company's statement.
Bad news at Chesapeake Energy also spelled trouble for Williams Cos. (WMB), which closed down 34.8%. Williams' drop was partly attributed to troubles at Chesapeake as the latter has committed to pay $2 billion annually for access to pipelines partly run by Williams, Reuters reported.
Investors in need of postiive news can look to Tyson Foods (TSN), which was up 5.37% on Monday despite the broader downturn in the market. The Arkansa-based chicken distributor posted earnings per share of $1.15 for its first quarter, solidly beating analyst estimates by 29%.
"Fiscal 2016 is off to a great start with record EPS of $1.15 up 49%," CEO Donald Smith said on a call with analysts. "For the balance of fiscal 2016, we anticipate continued savings and raw materials as well as synergy captures and will invest a good portion of the savings into pricing innovation and brand building; our margin outlook for prepared foods is at the low end of the 10% to 12% range."
On Tuesday, Real Money will be keeping an eye on Coca-Cola (KO) and Walt Disney (DIS), which are both due to report earnings.
