“It’s easy to ignore the market’s troubles – as long as your hot stocks aren’t affected,” Matt Krantz reports for USA Today. “But a surprising number of former superstar stocks aren’t just getting sucked into the market’s declines – but leading them.”

“The count of former leading stocks that are now suffering big-time is swelling as the market struggles,” Krantz reports. “There are 102 stocks in the Standard & Poor’s 500, including Apple (AAPL), Urban Outfitters and computer chipmaker Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) that are down 10% or more from all-time record highs set this year after just setting those this this year, according to a USA Today analysis of data from S&P Capital IQ. A 10% decline is an important measure – since it’s the unofficial definition of a correction.”

“The pain gets even deeper. There are 18 stocks in the S&P 500 that set record highs this year that are now down 20% or more from those all-time highs,” Krantz reports. “The biggest and most dramatic example is gadget maker Apple. Rising fears of a slowdown in China coupled with the fact more U.S. carriers are doing away with smartphone subsidies is turning the market’s biggest winner into one of its biggest losers. The fear is consumers may decide to keep their smartphones longer when they realize how much they’re actually paying for them. Shares of Apple are down 16% from their all-time high price of $134.50 notched in April… Now, the stock is barely up on the year – clinging to a 1.8% gain. Apple stock closed down $2.36, or 2.1%, to $112.65 Thursday.”

Read more in the full article here.

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