Grocery Retail Stocks Battered After Amazon-Whole Foods Announcement

Amazon is set to takeover of Whole Foods and its first order of business is to slash grocery prices. Here’s what you need to know

Grocery retailer shares are all negative after Amazon.com Inc. and Whole Foods Market Inc. announced changes starting Monday, when Amazon's acquisition of the organic and natural grocer is slated to be complete. Kroger Co. shares are down nearly 4%, Sprouts Farmers Market's and Costco Wholesale Corp.'s stocks are down 3.1%, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is down 2%. Amazon and Whole Foods announced that, starting Monday, the prices on some items, such as organic avocados, organic salmon and baby lettuce will come down. The company will also begin integrating Amazon Prime into Whole Foods' system. The PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage Portfolio is down 4.2% for the year so far, while the S&P 500 index is up 9% for the period.