It was an eventful week on Wall Street, with speculation about the fiscal cliff dominating the headlines. There was a lot of hope that a deal would come together before "Plan B" failed Thursday night, but even after a rough day Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 1.63%) rose 0.4% for the week and the S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.36%) gained 1.2%.
Bank of America (BAC 1.05%) was the biggest winner of the week, jumping 6.7% on fiscal cliff hope. The first four days of the week, Bank of America led the market as investors bet on one of the most leveraged plays on an economic recovery. Averting the fiscal cliff will allow more time for Bank of America to bolster its balance sheet and make money on the mortgages that have been so problematic for the industry.
United Technologies (UTX +0.58%) rose 3.2% on the week. The company is a big defense contractor, so any reduction in defense cuts would help the company, but it would also benefit from continuing order momentum of Bombardier's C-Series jet. The company received another 12 orders of the $870 million plane this week, and United Technologies will supply composite material and the engine for the jet.
Boeing (BA 2.29%) was up 2.9% this week, making it the third biggest gainer on the Dow this week. The company's weekly order report said 47 aircraft were ordered this week, and that doesn't include another 6-777s ordered by China Airlines on Friday.
The fiscal cliff will continue to dominate the markets over the next few weeks, so to keep you informed, we created a series of articles that cover everything you need to know. Find all of our coverage by clicking here.
