Yesterday, all three major indices closed the day in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
Some of yesterday's biggest movers include:
Company |
Move |
---|---|
Bank of America |
4.6% |
General Electric |
3% |
JPMorgan Chase |
3.5% |
Wal-Mart | (0.3%) |
McDonald's | (0.6%) |
Coca-Cola | (0.6%) |
Looking toward today, the major economic events and reports that investors need to keep their eye on include:
- Durable-goods orders.
- Personal income and outlays.
- New-home sales.
Durable goods
The Department of Commerce is releasing its durable-goods order figures at 8:30 a.m. ET today. Orders are considered a leading indicator of manufacturing activity. Lately, manufacturing has been a mixed bag. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the U.S. was among a small number of countries to realize manufacturing gains in November.
Caterpillar
Personal income
The Bureau of Economic Analysis is releasing its personal-income figures this morning, also at 8:30 ET. These figures are largely composed of wages and salaries, and considering that new jobless claims for unemployment benefits dropped last week to their lowest level since 2008, people may be reading this as a boon.
One potentially affected company that I'll be watching today is Paychex
New some sales
The Census Bureau's new home-sales report indicates the level of individual owned single-family homes sold and currently for sale from November. An earlier November report from RE/MAX indicates that sales were 8.1% higher than a year before. It was the fifth consecutive month to show a gain from the prior year. However, the average closing price was just over 4% lower compared with November 2010.
These numbers could indicate that supply has finally met demand. And with interest and mortgage rates at record lows, it's no surprise. Affected companies to watch today include homebuilders such as KB Homes and companies with mortgage exposure, including yesterday's big mover, Bank of America.
Foolish suggestions
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