The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which consumer goods editor and analyst Austin Smith discusses topics across the investing world.

In today's edition, Austin talks about why the Dow's been zigging and zagging today. The index opened higher in early trading but has fallen back to marginal gains for the day. Investors are hoping the market snaps its six-day losing streak and ekes out even a little win for the day. The big news that investors are tuning into today include Cisco's big losses, Ben Bernanke's lukewarm-but-still-positive assessment on the state of banking, and a few other big pops and drops. 

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