Why the Dow Moved Up Today

It was an up day for the market, as all three major indexes advanced:

	Change	Ending Value
Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  )	+83.55 [+0.66%]	12,716.46
Nasdaq (INDEX: ^IXIC  )	+34.43 [+1.22%]	2,848.27
S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC  )	+11.68 [+0.89%]	1,324.09

If we have to assign a macro reason for the stock upticks, manufacturing reports from China, Europe, and the U.S. all showed favorable numbers. Also, ADP estimates that the U.S. added 170,000 private sector jobs in January, which was in line with estimates.

More interesting are the company-specific events.

Amazon and Facebook dominated the news. Amazon shares dropped 7.7% as it reported earnings and guided to an operating loss of as much as $200 million for next quarter. Meanwhile, Facebook filed its S-1 after market close to eventually go public. For more on the likely timeline, read this.     

Looking at the Dow specifically, 26 of the 30 components rose today with no component falling more than 0.7%. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , Hewlett-Packard, and United Technologies led the charge, up 3.2%, 2.8%, and 2.4%.

Bank of America will be in the syndicate for the Facebook IPO, but it is Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS  ) who will lead. Since Facebook is looking to raise $5 billion, that equates to total bankers'fees of $50 million to $75 million spread among the investment banking syndicate (according to Bloomberg sources). Note that Morgan Stanley was up almost 4% today on the news, raising its market cap by well over a billion dollars.

It was an eventful day for Amazon and Facebook, but remember to keep the daily news in perspective. And if you're looking for banking ideas a bit simpler than Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, there's one small bank that's flying under the radar. It has some of the best operational numbers you'll ever see. The Motley Fool featured it in its brand new free report: "The Stocks Only the Smartest Investors Are Buying." We invite you to download a free copy.