The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.56%) managed to pull itself together today to close up 90 points, or 0.63%, after falling 90 points yesterday. Even though the issues in Europe are still looming (more importantly, in Cyprus), investors focused their attention on all the positive aspects of the economy here at home.
Housing sales and prices continue to rise, purchasing managers sentiment is growing stronger, jobless claims are falling, and the Federal Reserve is going to continue keeping interest rates low and buying bonds for an extended period of time.
But even with all the encouraging data, and the Dow rising almost 100 points, a few of its components still fell into the red today.
Top Dow losers
In an attempt to revitalize its brand, Pepsi (PEP 0.32%) rolled out a new bottle yesterday. The No. 2 soft-drink company in the world changed the shape of its 20-ounce bottle for the first time in nearly 17 years. The new features include a shorter label and a different contour to the bottom of the bottle, where one would presumably hold the beverage.
Shares of Coca-Cola (KO 0.91%) fell 0.07% today, which may be a result of the Pepsi bottle change. The move will likely not affect Coke in the long run, but it certainly has attracted attention from the media outlets. Self-promotion and advertising is really the only way these two companies can fight each other, and it seems Pepsi has won this week.
Cisco (CSCO 1.14%) dropped 0.43% after a federal jury found the company guilty in a civil case, and ordered it to pay $70 million to XpertUniverse. The two where working toward a potential partnership agreement, but XpertUniverse alleged Cisco strung it along for more than six months before informing Xperts management that the deal had been rejected. Xpert claims Cisco's actions led to the business failing and had Cisco been up front about its intentions, Xpert could have pursed other partnerships that would have allowed it to continue operating.
Shares of Travelers (TRV 1.97%) dipped 0.07% this afternoon. The stock had recently hit a new 52-week high and been on quite the run over the past three months. Year to date, shares are up 16.53%, making it the second best-performing Dow component in 2013. Furthermore, my Fool colleague Anders Bylund recently noted that over the past 12 months, it is the top-performing component, gaining 44% and almost 200 points to the Dow. Anders also has a great graph showing the contributions of other Dow components over the same time frame. Check it out by clicking here.
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