Why the Dow Was So Up-and-Down Today

After a bit of zigging and zagging today, the market ended up pretty much flat:

	Change	Ending Value
Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  )	-11.66 [-0.09%]	12,708.82
Nasdaq (INDEX: ^IXIC  )	-2.53 [-0.09%]	2,784.17
S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC  )	+0.62 [+0.05%]	1,316.00

The Dow was never up or down more than half a percent, but it was up, then down, then up, then down by noon. Then it broke even and went positive nearing market close before ending slightly negative.

So there was a lot of switching from red to black and back again, but it was much ado about nothing as the movements weren't large.

The news of the day included Greece, Research In Motion, and Chesapeake Energy.

Greece had two story lines: (1) the Eurozone finance ministers meeting to discuss terms for a second Greek bailout package; and (2) Greece's private creditors wrangling over the terms of a voluntary debt write-down (the latter is a precondition for the former).

Research in Motion named a new CEO to replace its longtime co-CEO tandem. Shares fell 8.5%.

And Chesapeake, the No. 2 natural gas producer, addressed oversupply concerns by indicating it could reduce output by as much as one billion cubic feet a day. Shares shot up 6.3%.

Looking to the 30 Dow stocks, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) continued its stock price rebound in 2012, up 2.5% to lead all Dow winners. Meanwhile, Travelers (NYSE: TRV  ) was the biggest Dow loser, down 2.1% ahead of its pre-market earnings release tomorrow.  

The daily news is fun to check out, but remember that these summaries are just a starting point. Keep your perspective and invest for the long term.

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