It's always nice to kick off a week with gains across the board. Last week's jobs numbers have stocks at a three-month high. To top it off, investors are feeling confident that that European Central Bank, following strong comments from President Draghi, will lower borrowing costs for indebted nations Spain and Italy.
Let's take a closer look at how the three major indexes are faring and check out several stocks making headlines.
|
Index |
Gain/Loss |
Gain/Loss % |
Intraday Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) | 6648 | 0.51% | 13,162.65 |
| Nasdaq | 19.75 | 0.67% | 2,987.65 |
| S&P 500 | 6.54 | 0.47% | 1,397.53 |
Source: Yahoo! Finance as of 10:15 a.m. EDT.
All thirty of the Dow's components are seeing green, with the biggest gainer being Kraft (Nasdaq: KFT), up 2.1% despite Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) continuing to trim its stake in the company. However, investors may still be excited over last week's news that hedge fund Third Point has accrued a massive $8.7 billion stake in the company.
Today's biggest gainer so far is Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), thanks to news of a potential buyer. The struggling retail franchise has an $8.8 billion offer… from its founder. CEO Richard Schulze could be going down with the ship, but taking the company private might speed along a critical transformation from an outdated business model to something more than a showroom for online retailers. Best Buy is up 15%, still well beneath the takeout price, while shares of electronics retailer RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) are up 3%, buoyed by the news.
Speculative stocks hold the allure of substantial short-term gains, and today's buyout rumors will attract many investors. But there are arguably better and more stable approaches to building long-term wealth and retiring well. In our free report, "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich," we reveal some stocks that could help you as well as some winning wealth-building strategies. Click here to keep reading.
