What’s Driving The Dow Today

The following video is part of our “Talking Stocks” series, in which Motley Fool analyst Austin Smith discusses trends across the investing universe.

In this edition, Austin looks at the big stories moving The Dow today. The big-mamma story, of course, is the Supreme Court's 5/4 approval to effectively uphold The Affordable Care Act, with minor adjustments. Interestingly, though, the Dow’s healthcare stocks reacted with a shoulder shrug. There are also report’s that JP Morgan’s $2 billion trading loss could actually tip the scales at an unsightly $9 billion. However, this is a long-tail situation, and the result of a leaked worst-case scenario report from the company, and is likely to be far less.

At the end of the day, while watching news like this is exciting, it’s really all noise. Watching the market each day like this can be fun, but it's also very stressful. Instead, we suggest you tune out the commotion of the day-to-day market and opt for great individual stocks, like "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012."  It's our chief investment officer's top pick for the year, and it may be yours, too. Read more about it here.