The Dow Quietly Gains Strength

The third trading session of the week is another yawner, as it appears investors are stuck in holding pattern until a Greek debt deal gets done, but that doesn't mean there isn't any action happening.

But before we dive in to the day's big stories, let's see how exactly the three largest indexes are faring with an hour left in today's session.

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

The Dow is just marginally positive, but exactly two-thirds of its components are recording gains. Tech giant and newest Dow member Cisco (NAS: CSCO) reports earnings today after markets close and shares are currently up 0.5%. Cisco struggled in 2011 to top 2010 earnings results, but last quarter (its first of 2012), the company managed to change that with earnings of $0.43 a share. Analysts expect per share earnings to stay flat sequentially, but Cisco has a history of beating the Street, topping estimates every quarter since mid-2008.

More importantly: IPO mania is back! With Facebook's initial public offering sucking most of the oxygen out of the room, casino operator Caesars Entertainment (NYS: CZR) debuted with a surprisingly little amount of fanfare for such a well-known casino operator. However, investors loved what they saw, launching shares up 80% when bidding started. Shares currently sit two-thirds higher than the IPO price of $9.

A couple words of caution: Less than 2% of the company's float was made available, so investors won't hold any sway over management, and unlike Wynn Resorts (NAS: WYNN) , which has an presence in Macau, Caesars is currently shut out of the increasingly important gambling destination. Also, its balance sheet carries $22 billion in debt, seven times that of Wynn, thanks to its leveraged private-equity buyout. Bottom line: unless you were lucky enough to receive original shares, jumping in post-pop is probably as wise as betting it all on black.

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At the time thisarticle was published David Williamson holds no position in any company mentioned. Click here to see his holdings and a short bio. The Motley Fool owns shares of 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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