If you've ever felt like getting back to work after a summer weekend was hard, you can sympathize with the stock market. Market pundits are tossing out a piece of trivia: Today marked the seventh consecutive Monday decline for the Dow Jones Industrials (INDEX: ^DJI), something that hasn't happened for a decade. Yet it's hard to put much importance on that streak, as concerns about the global economy seem more relevant for investors. The broader market was also down modestly, while major international markets finished near the unchanged level.

But several Dow stocks overcame the down market and moved higher. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) led the gainers with a 1.4% advance. The stock may have ridden on the coattails of much smaller Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, whose treatment for a rare disease called TTR-mediate amyloidosis had good results in an early stage trial. Pfizer's Tafamidis, which treats the same drug, got turned down by the FDA last month, but Pfizer may submit more data to support a future approval request.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) rose more than 1% after rivals Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard settled a multibillion-dollar dispute with merchants over fees. But because the settlement didn't include as large a fee reduction as some had thought, AmEx should be able to keep its charges at their current level.

Finally, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) rose about three-quarters of a percent on news that any fine the Brazilian government imposes over recent spills off its coast should be no more than $25 million. With some having originally mentioned figures in the billions, the news comes as a relief to nervous Chevron shareholders.

Don't be blue
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