William Shakespeare famously quipped, "All the world's a stage/And all the men and women merely players." (Yes, we read classic literature here at the Fool.) Given how much individual stocks are being tossed around by broader market factors, Shakespeare's theory seems spot-on for investors. Case in point: The S&P 500
Building a housing rebound?
Despite recent weakness in the U.S., a slowdown in certain emerging markets, and Europe's ongoing tragedy, yesterday's housing data provided a much-needed reason for optimism. The Department of Commerce reported that new home sales had reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 369,000, the best number since April 2010. Today, an S&P/Case-Shiller housing survey reported an April increase in housing prices in 19 of 20 surveyed cities, amid other news that overall housing prices had fallen at a less-than-predicted rate. As a result, homebuilder PulteGroup
A new chapter in education?
On the education front, a few items emerged with rather mixed results. A federal report topped expectations in its evaluations, saying that 95% of the evaluated for-profit education programs met all three performance requirements. The big surprise came from such a high passage rate on the federal government's new gainful-employment regulation, which analysts viewed with some pessimism. Apollo Group
Other stocks making waves
A few big names did perform well on their own. Shares of Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp
That's all for the daily roundup on the market's notable movers. Make sure to add these companies to your free My Watchlist feature to get up to date analysis whenever news breaks. Add PulteGroup to My Watchlist.
- Add NewsCorp to My Watchlist.
- Add Corinthian Colleges to My Watchlist.
- Add Best Buy to My Watchlist.
- Add Apollo Group to My Watchlist.