The Dow Jones Industrials (^DJI -0.11%) wasn't able to make it a clean sweep for the week, as the average finished Thursday with a loss of 16 points. But even with today's setback, the Dow finished the week up more than 380 points. Earnings releases from nine different Dow components dominated the news all week long, but in the end, several stocks that didn't report earnings also helped contribute to the Dow's strong performance. Among them were Disney (DIS 0.18%) and Boeing (BA -2.87%), both of which had impressive share-price gains during the holiday-shortened week.
Source: Disney.
Disney climbed 1.3% on Thursday, bringing its total gains for the week to nearly 4%. The recent past has been incredibly good for the entertainment empire's prospects lately, with good news on nearly all fronts helping to bolster confidence in Disney stock. Disney's strategy of using its multimedia prowess to link up content throughout its multiple distribution networks has paid off, with the company saying that combining television with radio, Internet, and mobile applications has led to greater viewer engagement and interaction. Meanwhile, the huge though surprising success of Disney's Frozen has gone beyond the silver screen, leading to shortages of related merchandise, and showing the marketing power that Disney has. As the consumer economy improves, Disney will be in a strong position to capture more of consumers' disposable income.
Source: Boeing.
Boeing rose almost 5% this week, capping a strong performance with a 1.5% gain today. What's particularly impressive about Boeing's gains is that they come on the heels of a huge 2013, and although Boeing stock corrected early this year, the aerospace giant has taken steps to address its biggest challenges. The biggest test for Boeing will be whether it can maintain quality control even as it ramps up the rate of production of new models like its 787 Dreamliner in order to meet its huge backlog more efficiently and effectively. Yet, with signs that demand for aircraft will remain strong for the foreseeable future, the opportunity is Boeing's to capture, and if it can execute on converting its backlog of orders into revenue and profits, then the sky's the limit for Boeing's share price.
Earnings season will continue for several weeks, with Boeing reporting next week, and Disney following suit early next month. But even as most investors focus on the companies making their quarterly reports, be sure to look at how other members of the Dow Jones Industrials react. In many cases, you can capture some hidden gains if you look where other people aren't noticing what's going on.
