Why Equifax, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and AngloGold Ashanti Slumped Today

Monday was a good day for the stock market, with most investors breathing a big sigh of relief despite the devastation that Hurricane Irma caused in the Southeastern U.S. over the weekend. Irma has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but it continues to bring rain, wind, and storm surges as it moves northward. Yet because it moved west to avoid a full-on hit on Miami and other population centers, major benchmarks climbed more than 1% today.

Even with the overall positive sentiment, some stocks still suffered from bad news. Equifax (NYSE: EFX), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN), and AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we'll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.

Shares of Equifax dropped 8%, adding to their losses from last week following the company's massive data breach of 143 million U.S. consumer accounts. Names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, and even some driver's license numbers were among the assets stolen by hackers, and a smaller number of people had even more extensive personal information exposed. Over the weekend, many called for greater regulation of credit reporting agencies, and it will inevitably require extensive spending for Equifax to try to repair the damage that has been done. Until more details are known, investors will have to wait to learn the full extent of Equifax's liability from the event.

Source: Fool.com