The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 1.63%), which has been on a total roller coaster in the last few days -- falling 130 points Monday, while bouncing back nearly 100 points yesterday -- went sideways today, adding just seven points, or 0.1%, to close at 13,986.
3M (MMM 2.67%) was the index's top gainer, adding 1.2%, after hiking its dividend by 8%. The dividend will now stand at a 2.5% annual yield. The multinational conglomerate also announced a share buyback plan, which shareholders were, understandably, enthused about as they bid shares higher.
Intel (INTC +2.35%), posting losses of 0.9%, was the top laggard in the blue-chip index today. Chip makers and companies in the PC industry in general have suffered tough times in the past few years, as the shift to mobile devices gathered more and more momentum. No longer are the big-time tech names of the '90s automatic top performers, and the announcement of Dell's leveraged buyout to go private yesterday marks the end of an era in some ways. Intel shares are down more than 20% in the last year.
Outside of the Dow, online review company Yelp (YELP 0.04%) gained 5.7% today ahead of reporting quarterly earnings in the afternoon. Unfortunately for Yelp investors, those earnings weren't spectacular. In fact, they were nonexistent. The company lost money in the fourth quarter, although on the positive side of things, it lost less money than usual. Shares shed more than 2% after hours.
Another company seeing shares rise markedly during the day was Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR +0.00%). Despite rallying 3% during normal trading hours, shares ended up significantly lower after reporting earnings after the markets closed. The stock tumbled as much as 10% after hours, driven down by expectations for lower revenue in the current quarter as the K-Cup maker projected an industrywide slowdown.
