After starting down roughly half a percent in early trading, the Dow almost broke even and the S&P 500 eked out a gain. The Nasdaq fared slightly better than its less tech-focused brethren:
Index |
Change |
Ending Value |
---|---|---|
Dow Jones Industrial Average |
-13.02 [-0.10%] | 12,449.45 |
Nasdaq |
+8.26 [+0.31%] | 2,710.76 |
S&P 500 |
+0.40 [+0.03%] | 1,292.48 |
Not surprisingly given a flattish market, there wasn't any major market-moving news today. You can fill in your own vague explanations involving slightly favorable U.S. economic news or slightly unfavorable European economic news.
But there was a lot of movement in individual stocks.
Bank of America
But it couldn't bring the Dow into positive territory today. In fact, IBM's
Leading the 16 Dow losers today (out of 30) was Disney, with a 2.3% drop (though Coca-Cola's 1.8% and Chevron's 1.4% losses had bigger effects).
In short, it was another great day for Bank of America, a middling day for the market, and a good time to brush up on our Dow basics. But remember to keep all the daily noise in perspective. Invest for the long term. And if you're looking for a long-term stock pick, our chief investment officer has identified his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock he likes in our brand-new free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012." I invite you to take a copy, free for a limited time. Get access to the report and find out the name of this legendary company.