This month's jobs report isn't due until Friday. So investors are, for now, forced to hold their breath another couple of days in anticipation of the news -- and what it will do to the Fed's plans for another round of fiscal stimulus, and what that will do to the stock market.
Result: The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) is basically coasting today -- up a bare 0.2%, hanging out around 13,062 and change.
Not everyone's just sitting on their hands, of course. Nokia (NOK -0.81%), for instance, just unveiled two new smartphones running the new Windows 8 software, and in the latest example of investors "buying the rumor and selling the news," its stock is being sold off by roughly 11% as punishment for pulling back the curtain. Facebook, in contrast, is enjoying some rare good news as its recently unveiled plans to shore up a flagging stock price -- by putting a lid on insider selling -- help to lift the stock 5%.
And even within the Dow proper, we're seeing some sizable moves. Disney (DIS 0.18%) has tacked on 3% and counting, buoyed in part by confirmation that Amazon.com (AMZN -1.64%) will pay for access to films such as The Avengers via its deal to sell streaming video provided by Epix. That means more moola for the House of Mouse.
On the other side of the seesaw, American Express (AXP 0.07%) is weighing down the Dow, off 2.5% on no news of note. My best guess? This could be a bet on a weak unemployment report later this week. If the economy stalls, not only does it suggest fewer paid employees putting charges on their cards, but it also raises the possibility of a Fed intervention that could depress interest rates even further, hurting the profitability of financial firms like AmEx.
Silly rabbit -- seesaws are for kids!
Of course, that's just a guess. Because, as I said, there's no actual news out there today that would explain AmEx falling more than 10 times as steeply as the rest of the Dow. But if playing Wall Street's guessing game doesn't appeal to you, we think there's a better way to invest: Buy the kinds of undervalued, underappreciated stocks that "Wall Street's Too Rich to Notice." We've got three suggestions for you right here -- for free.
