Editors Note: The list of top stocks is derived from the quote pages that received the most views on Yahoo! Finance by examining data for the current week. It is not, however, a list of the most searched-for tickers or company names on our site.
1. Apple (AAPL)
Tim Cook’s streak of good press from his appearance at the All Things D conference and his testimony before Congress on corporate taxes lasted about two weeks. This week, it was back to another onslaught of bad news.
The week should have started out on a high note, as word that the company would introduce a streaming music service hammered shares of Pandora. However, being a latecomer to the streaming party isn’t what investors are looking for, and attention shifted to the company’s legal woes. Monday kicked off the company’s defense in a case over price fixing of E-books. The next day, the United States International Trade Commission said that Apple had violated a patent owned by competitor Samsung, putting a stop to imports of some of Apple’s older model phones and iPads.
Days later, a report issued on Thursday claimed that Apple’s iPhone sales in China have been falling precipitously. An analyst cited by Investor's Business Daily said iPhone sales had fallen as much as 70% quarter-to-quarter as Chinese wireless carriers reduced subsidies. And as Apple has lost, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has gained, says the report.
Samsung may have outpaced Apple as the top smartphone player in the U.S. in May, said a Canaccord Genuity report. However, the report did not account for Apple sales at their own stores. Still, it was another headline signaling weakness.
Apple shares have fallen steadily throughout the week, down 2.5% over the last five full trading days. Shares are down more than 20% for the year-to-date.
2. Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA)
The fate of Fannie Mae and the long shot that the government may release the company to trade as a normal stock have kept it in the spotlight this week. While hedge funds make bets that the company could have real value, elected officials are moving forward with plans to bring about its demise.
More details on legislation that would dissolve Fannie and Freddie Mac are emerging. The two groups would be “liquidated within five years and replaced by an entity offering government reinsurance for mortgage-backed debt,” according to a report from Reuters.
Many are discounting the housing recovery, pointing to the fact that some homebuyers are actually investors who are crowding out potential owners. However, according to TheStreet.com, Fannie Mae is selling 60% of its properties to owners. TheStreet notes that Fannie and fellow government sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac own more than 150,000 foreclosed homes.