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.
Stocks ended flat today as the Federal Reserve came back into focus on the second trading of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.98%) finished the day up 28 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 fell a smidgen, dropping 0.03%. Investors focused on comments from Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, who said that the central bank faced "immense" challenges now that it had reduced is monthly bond-buying program. Outgoing Chairman Ben Bernanke responded to Plosser's remarks by saying that the Fed was still committed to helping the economic recovery, which "clearly remains incomplete."
Shares of SiriusXM Holdings (SIRI -4.43%) were getting a boost after hours following partial-owner Liberty Media's (FWONA) offer to purchase the remaining outstanding shares in the company. Liberty actually proposed converting all shares not owned by the media company to be converted into 0.076 of a share of Liberty stock. If the deal goes through, current Sirius shareholders would own 39% of Liberty Media. The offer translates into a 3% premium on Sirius's closing price of $3.57, and shares climbed 3.6% in extended trading after the announcement. The SiriusXM board has not yet issued a response to the offer.
Elsewhere, shares of General Motors (GM 1.20%) fell 3.4% as its December sales figures disappointed the market. GM said total vehicles sold fell for the month fell 6.3% from a year ago, to 230,157, even as 2013 sales were up 7.3%. The automaker blamed a lack of sufficient pickup truck inventory at dealerships and aggressive discounting by Ford for the decline in sales. Still, 2013 was a generous year for the auto industry and, as the economy continues to improve both here and in Europe, auto sales figure to pick up steam. At a forward P/E of 8.5, today's drop could present an opportunity to pick up some shares.
