As the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.88%) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI 0.56%) set new record intraday highs, investors seem to have a lot to celebrate. As of 12:45 p.m. EDT the major indexes are all moving higher. The Dow is up 142 points, or 0.97%, to 14,816. The S&P 500 is up 1.22% to 1,588, but the NASDAQ has risen the most, up 1.8%.
Big technology stocks have pushed not only the NASDAQ higher today, but also the Dow. And at the time of writing, only two of the Dow's 30 stocks are trading lower: Wal-Mart (WMT 0.46%) and Travelers (TRV 1.74%).
Wal-Mart has lost 0.36% of its value on little negative news. The company faces a number of legal issues, and officials reported today that an investigation into Wal-Mart's lobbying for entry into India will be completed by June. This investigations stems from a bribery scandal that started in Mexico and then spread to other countries around the world.
Although the company has been plagued by poor news over the past six months, the stock is still up 14% year to date, while the Dow has risen about 13%.
One of the Dow's big winners this year is Travelers, which has risen 18.1% in 2013. However, shares have dropped 0.4% today. Yesterday Travelers CEO Jay Fishman said his company needs to stop making excuses about the frequency of natural disasters and low bond yields. Fishman further said the company had embarked on a "carefully calibrated strategy of selectively but actively raising rates." This should give investors confidence that the company will be able to weather future storms while maintaining profitability in the long the run.
