And here we are! The Sweet Sixteen of Market Madness has been set after another exciting (?) day of action! The Mid Major Bracket and Road to Redemption Bracket both went into action for the second round today and settled which companies would be moving on to play again on Thursday and which would be knocked out for good. Be sure to keep checking the Equities.com Market Madness Bracket.
Mid Majors Bracket
9. Tata Motors (TTM) -4.01 percent over 1. Cobalt International Energy (CIE) -4.45 percent
4. Bank of America (BAC) +2.94 percent over 5. Cheniere Energy (LNG) -2.18 percent
6. Illumina (ILMN) +1.65 percent over 3. RSC Holdings (RRR) -1.34 percent
7. Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) -1.36 percent over 15. Valero Energy (VLO) -1.75
The Mid Majors bracket was the only one of the four brackets that saw its one seed advance out of the first round. Well, so much for that. Cobalt International Energy stumbled in the second round and fell to ninth seeded Tata Motors in a match up that saw both companies desperately trying to lose. Both companies fell more than 4 percent today, but it was Cobalt that fell farther. Tata had better get itself ready as it faces a hard-charging Bank of America in the Sweet Sixteen. Bank of America, which has been on a major bull run since Dec. 20, suddenly appears to be the favorite to make the Final Four out of the Mid Majors bracket.
Road to Redemption Bracket
8. Arch Coal (ACI) -1.30 percent over 16. RR Donnelley & Sons (RRD) -2.28 percent
4. Carnival Corporation (CCL) -1.07 percent over 12. Peabody Energy (BTU) -5.38 percent
3. Alcoa (AA) -1.51 percent over 6. First Solar (FSLR) -4.22 percent
2. Baker Hughes (BHI) -2.15 percent over 7. Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) -4.10 percent
The Road to Redemption Bracket didn’t seem to have much redemption in it Tuesday as all eight of its remaining competitors logged negative returns on the day. The bracket did produce to two top seeded remaining teams after Alcoa, a three seed, took down First Solar and Barker Hughes, a two seed, knocked out Alpha Natural Resources.
Thursday: Day Five
The third round begins on Thursday as the entire Sweet Sixteen goes into action, putting us all one step closer to the Final Four. Thursday will be the first day all of the remaining companies will be in action simultaneously, so any bad news had best be released before market close Wednesday!
