Markets and economic reports are hitting levels we haven't seen in five years today. Housing starts hit a seasonally adjusted level of 954,000, the best since 2008; new jobless claims fell 37,000 to 335,000, the lowest since January 2008; and the S&P 500 has increased 0.7% to hit a level we haven't seen since late 2007. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.16%) is up 0.77% today, and there are some big movers on the index.
Disney (DIS 0.14%) is up 1.95% after Deutsche Bank reiterated a buy rating and increased its price target. The House of Mouse has leveraged its content machine through both traditional end emerging distribution channels, and it looks to be one of the surefire winners in the media space.
Chevron (CVX +1.05%) and ExxonMobil (XOM +0.03%) are both up more than 1% after oil jumped past $96 per on news of the takeover of a natural-gas plant by Algerian militants. The Algerian military has reportedly attacked the compound, and some hostages have reportedly been killed. This is a terrible situation, and it's this sort of turmoil that can send the price of oil -- and, by extension, oil producers -- higher on a day like this.
Intel (INTC 5.13%) is the other big mover on the Dow, climbing 1.9% ahead of an important earnings report after the close. The company is dealing with the slow decline of the PC market, and investors will be interested to hear how progress in everything from mobile to servers is going. There's a lot of pressure on Intel, and investors have failed to see value in the company's 9.8 P/E ratio or a 4.1% dividend, because they're afraid earnings can only go lower. It's a big day for Intel.
