Boeing and the Dow Make It Lucky 7 After All
The market once again overcomes early declines to finish higher.
Among historic stock market runs, the latest upward move for the Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES:^DJI) today is remarkable. Not only did the Dow's five-point rise today give it seven straight days of new record-high closes, but it also marked the ninth straight day that the Dow has posted gains. That hasn't happened since 1996, and it shows once again how resilient the stock market has been, overcoming all sorts of uncertainty both in the U.S. and around the world. The broader market also bounced back after posting declines yesterday, as the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) fell short of setting a new five-year closing high but stands less than 1% from its own record.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) managed to climb 0.7%, setting its own five-year closing high on follow-through from favorable news about its 787 Dreamliner. Between getting the go-ahead to run tests on its proposed solution to its lithium-ion battery problems on the Dreamliner and receiving a huge $15 billion order from RyanAir, things are looking up for Boeing. But with customers undoubtedly getting impatient with the grounding, it's more important than ever for Boeing to make things right as quickly as possible to avoid longer-term damage to its reputation.
Elsewhere, Cliffs Natural (NYSE:CLF) fell another 5%, hitting another 52-week low. With weak prices forcing the company to announce earlier this week that it will idle its iron pellet plant in Quebec, Cliffs shows no signs of recovering from the poor environment for its core metallurgical coal and iron ore industries. Until steel-making demand rises, Cliffs will have trouble gaining ground.
Finally, Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) fell 2.5% on a generally poor day for refiners. Analysts noted today that refiners are facing a potential problem from the federal government's renewable fuels standard. As prices of required renewable fuel credits has risen so far in 2013, some refiners will feel the pinch, potentially hurting margins and reversing the strong profitability that the entire industry has seen recently.