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.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -1.23%) is flat after a fresh report on the housing market. As of 1:30 p.m. EST the Dow was up four points to 16,482. The S&P 500 (^GSPC -1.42%) was down one point to 1,849.
There was one U.S. economic release today.
|
Report |
Period |
Result |
Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Pending home sales |
November |
0.2% |
-0.6% |
Pending home sales were on the rise earlier this year when mortgage rates were at 30-year lows. Sales numbers have steadily declined since this summer as Treasury bond and mortgage rates jumped after the first inkling from the Federal Reserve that it could begin tapering asset purchases. However, sales stabilized in November, rising 0.2% from a downward revised October.
US Pending Home Sales Index data by YCharts.
Year-over-year pending home sales are down 1.6%. However, an estimated 5.1 million existing home sales in full 2013 will be the best count in the past seven years, a bright spot for the U.S. economy.
While markets are mixed in early afternoon, Twitter (TWTR) has plunged 4.58% so far today to $60.88. Twitter's stock took off this month and is up 40% for December and up 30% since its IPO in November. However, for those who purchased in the past week the stock is down 20% from its recent high. With a $37 billion market cap and a price-to-sales ratio of 65 Twitter is richly valued, to say the least.
Today's Dow leader
Today's Dow leader is Disney (DIS -2.43%), up 2.46% to $76.17. There are multiple catalysts for Disney rising. First, Mark Hulbert in Barron's listed Disney among his best stocks for 2014 as compiled by the actions of his Honor Roll Advisors. Second, an analyst at Guggenheim upgraded the stock from neutral to buy and raised his price target from $77 to $87, as its recent movies are outperforming expectations.
