U.S. markets were up in midday trading Friday as crude oil prices climbed about 3% to $45.12 a barrel, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials up some 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
Big Pharma was hammered as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said she plans to tamp down drug costs, citing "unjustified" price hikes across the industry. That cut shares of Mylan (MYL) about 5%, adding to the drugmaker's woes since Capitol Hill subpoenaed the company last month for price increases of more than 400% over the past several years for its allergy treatment EpiPen Auto-Injector.
Shares of industry peers, including Mallinckrodt (MNK) and Valeant (VRX) , fell 4% and 2%, respectively. Valeant shares are now down about 71% year-to-date after the debt-laden drugmaker had to delay its annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission over investigations into its pricing policies and sales book-keeping tied to its former partnership with mail-order pharmacy Philidor Rx Services.
Clinton noted on her Twitter feed that drugmakers should "never put profits before patients" and that she has a plan to"stop excessive prescription drug price hikes."
Drug companies should never put profits before patients. Our plan to stop excessive prescription drug price hikes: https://t.co/2MdTyJ3Xti
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 2, 2016
Meantime, shares of Chesapeake Energy (CHK) , a member of Real Money's Stressed Out watch list, were up about 7% on climbing oil prices, adding to the 39% gains on the year of the Oklahoma City-based oil and gas exploration company's share price.
Growth Seeker holding Under Armour (UA) shares declined about 3% after the sports apparel retailer's CEO, Kevin Plank, announced plans to sell as much as 2.1 million shares, a stake valued at more than $81 million as of midday trading Friday.
"The sales under the trading plan are being done for asset diversification, tax and estate planning and charitable giving purposes," the company said in a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
