Why the Dow Is Rallying Today
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) is rallying for a third day in a row along with worldwide markets as jobless claims fell to their lowest level in four years and Bank of America (NYS: BAC) reported positive earnings. At 1:30 p.m. EST, the Dow was up 39 points to 12,617. The S&P 500 was up 7 points to 1,315.
After reporting positive earnings this morning, Bank of America is today's top Dow stock. The company is leading the pack, up 4.1% to $7.07. While the earnings weren't stupendous, they were enough to make Bank of America profitable over the past year.
Runner-up so far today is Cisco (NAS: CSCO) , up 2% to $19.93. The stock is responding to F5 Networks' (NAS: FFIV) strong earnings report this morning, which has pushed the stock up more than 13%. Investors in the networking company have been worried about low spending by telecoms and spending cuts by the government. A competitor beating earnings estimates is seen as a good sign for the industry.
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At the time thisarticle was published Dan Dzombak owns shares of Cisco Systems and Bank of America, but he holds no other position in any company mentioned. Click here to see his holdings and a short bio. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America. The Fool also owns shares of and has created a bull call spread position on Cisco Systems. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Cisco Systems. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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