Why Tech Stocks Beat the Dow Today

It was a mixed day in the market, as the Dow and S&P were essentially flat and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ticked up a bit.

Index	Change	Ending Value
Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  )	-9.38 [-0.07%]	12,707.08
Nasdaq (INDEX: ^IXIC  )	+11.41 [+0.40%]	2,859.68
S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC  )	+1.45 [+0.11%]	1,325.54

From a macro standpoint, there wasn't much news today. Thirty-year mortgage rates did hit a record low for the ninth time in the last year, though. Freddie Mac reports that the average rate is now 3.87%. If you're a homeowner, it's a good idea to check in on your current terms.

Up tomorrow is January's jobs report. We'll see whether the 8.5% unemployment rate moves any.

Looking at individual stocks, it was a relatively good day for tech stocks. If we loosely define tech, we see some exuberance from yesterday's after-hours Facebook S-1 filing in front of an upcoming IPO. Its symbiotic game-slinging partner Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA  ) saw shares rise 17% -- probably because Facebook revealed that it gets 12% of its sales from Zynga.

Meanwhile, more traditional video gamer Electronic Arts rose 6% on expectations-beating earnings. And communications equipment maker Qualcomm rose 2% on strong earnings and a positive outlook.

That said, tech stocks weren't universally up when we look at the 30 Dow components. AT&T and Microsoft were up 0.6% and 0.2% and Cisco was flat. But Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) , Verizon, IBM, and Intel were all down --- though each less than 1%. Hewlett-Packard was the biggest Dow tech dropper, down 0.9% as rival Dell gainedground on an analyst upgrade and the announcement of a new "Software Group."

It was an eventful day for tech, as investors excitedly unlocked Facebook's financial privacy settings. But remember to gather information and keep a long-term perspective. As we await Facebook's IPO, remember to weigh any company's potential against the valuation of the shares.

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