The Dow Jones Industrials Average (INDEX: ^DJI) has been on the move in 2012, up an impressive 5.14% for the year to date. That shouldn't be a big surprise, though, as 23 of The Dow's 30 components have gained for the year. Of the seven with negative YTD performance, three are near zero.
Yet not every day can be a big win for the index, as today demonstrated. Markets opened sharply lower for the morning and then crawled back to a smaller loss by market close. Here is a look at how the big three indices fared today:
|
Index |
Gain / Loss |
Gain / Loss % |
Ending Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | (17.1) | (0.13%) | 12,845 |
| Nasdaq | (3.67) | (0.13%) | 1,344 |
| S&P 500 | (0.57) | (0.04%) | 2,902 |
It was a yawn-inducing Monday for most investors, but that doesn't mean every stock put up a boring performance. Here is a look at the three Dow components with the biggest losses today.
- The Travelers (NYSE: TRV) was the worst-performing Dow stock today, losing 1.3%. The most obvious reason for the drop was what appears to be another stalling of the Greek debt situation. Fortunately, the majority of Travelers business is U.S.-based, so it shouldn't suffer too badly from the situation. However, the nature of finance and insurance industries is ever more interconnected, so ripples may spread further than is justified.
- Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) was the second biggest loser for the day, erasing 1.2% of their stock price by day's end. Not only was it down today, but it's also one of the three worst Dow stocks this week. While there were no big storylines out of Pfizer today, the company recently had to recall 1 million birth-control packs. Couple that with the loss of the Lipitor patent, and the company could be in for a rough 2012.
- Next up on the loser train is Boeing (NYSE: BA). The massive manufacturer revealed that the tail section of its 787s will need repairs. Fortunately, there is no safety concern at this time, which is perhaps why the shares were down only 1%. That could be good news for Boeing's competitor Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT). The rival defense contractor recently inked the deal for the largest defense contract ever and is likely to pilot itself to riches as it sells its F-35 radar-evading jets. The big question for investors now is whether the defense-based Lockheed will out-earn the more consumer-facing Boeing in the next few years.
Looking past today
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