The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has had a disappointing start to the week, losing 0.8%, while the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (Index: ^AXSO) (ASX: XSO) only managed to lose 0.1%.
News that Japan had officially entered into a recession shocked the market, driving a majority of big caps lower.
But some stocks fared much worse than others. Here's our view on four of them…
IPB Petroleum Ltd (ASX: IPB) dropped a whopping 84% to 5.2 cents, after the company announced its first Browse Basin well Pryderi-1 was unsuccessful. Managing director Brendan Brown said, "Although the results of this first well were not as predicted, we know that oil is present in this part of the Browse Basin." Has the market over-reacted? Possibly.
ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARP) dropped 10.5%, or $1.36 to $11.64, after shares in the bull bar manufacturer went ex-dividend a $1.00 fully franked special dividend. The retailer of aftermarket accessories for the 4WD market has a habit of paying special dividends, and with mooted changes to the company tax rate, more than a few companies are looking at returning franking credits to shareholders.
Infigen Energy Ltd (ASX: IFN) saw its share drop 5.5% to 26 cents. The wind farm operator recently reported that total revenue for the September quarter dropped 16% over the previous year, as Australian production fell 24%. Infigen generates around 15% of Australia's wind farm energy, and says it has a significant development pipeline of wind and solar projects.
Sundance Energy Australia Ltd (ASX: SEA) lost 5.3% to close at 89 cents. The company owns and operates a number of oil and gas wells in the US, and during the last quarter produced just over 7,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), of which 71% is oil. The company may be suffering as global oil prices have crashed from above US$100 a barrel to below US$80 per barrel. Some analysts think prices could fall even further from here, thanks to booming US shale production.
