Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over daily movements, we do like to keep an eye on market changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
With 21 of the 30 components making up the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.06%) in the red today, it's not hard to see why the index itself also finished lower than where it started this morning. The Dow Jones lost 54 points, or 0.35%, today as investors focused more of their attention to company earnings. One big drag on the index was Caterpillar, as it disappointed investors. On the flipside, Boeing impressed investors and led all Dow components higher.
Even though the company hasn't yet reported earnings for the quarter, shares of Dow component Disney (DIS -0.45%) have been on quite the ride the past two days. Although they moved lower by 1.28% today, yesterday they moved up 2.1% and hit a new all-time high at $69 per share in the process. Today's move came with very little news pertaining directly to the company, but it's not uncommon for a stock to pull back slightly after hitting a record high. Furthermore, the company's recent movie release The Fifth Estate hasn't done well in theaters and will probably show up on Disney's next quarterly report as a sizable loss. This past weekend the movie opened in eighth place, raking in only $1.7 million in theaters. But while this flop will cost the company money, it won't be enough to materially change an investor's thesis on the company, so shareholders should sit tight or add to their positions if the stock falls on non-material news.
Following on the heels of the company's recent quarterly earnings report, shares of Coach (TPR 0.03%) fell 3.09% today, after dropping 7.5% yesterday. Today's decline can be contributed to both a slight hangover from yesterday and a stock rating downgrade from Argus. Although the company hit Wall Street's earnings-per-share estimates, the company showed some major weakness in its most important market, North America. Same-store-sales figures fell 6.8% during the quarter, and future guidance wasn't great, either, which was the reason Argus gave for downgrading the stock from "buy" to "hold."
Then there was J.C. Penney (JCPN.Q), whose shares rose 7.48% today. The move comes as the company has finally pulled the plug on the Martha Stewart Living circus. J.C. Penney is not only divesting its 17% stake in the company but will also no longer sell the Martha Stewart kitchen, bed, and bath products that landed Penney in court a few months back, when Macy's said it was legally the only company allowed to sell those products.
While today was a good day for J.C. Penney investors, this one victory may not be enough to win the war the company is fighting, and shareholders shouldn't expect many more days like this in the near future.
