This Week's Dow: One Big Winner, One Big Loser
For the week, the Dow (INDEX: ^DJI) closed pretty much flat last week, ending up just under the 13,000 mark (12,977.57 to be exact).
Looking at the individual components, there were 17 winners and 13 losers. Only two components were up or down 5% or more, though.
The big winner
On the up side, JPMorgan Chase (NYS: JPM) rose 6.1% this week. It's also notable that the runner-up was the only other bank in the Dow: Bank of America (NYS: BAC) , which was up 3.2%.
There has been a general run-up in bank shares this year as the news on the overall U.S. economy has been mostly positive. A few things to note about banking this week:
Warren Buffett was generally favorable toward banks in his latest shareholder letter, released last weekend, and specifically favorable toward Bank of America and Wells Fargo (NYS: WFC) . He also revealed on CNBC that he owns shares of JPMorgan Chase in his personal account. The man who is known for his annual shareholder letters again praised JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
On Friday, both JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America were deemed "substantially" improved in their performance with respect to mortgage assistance -- the government will now pay them incentive payments. Read more here.
Bank of America got a good deal of press in a Wall Street Journal story regarding its plans to change checking account fees. Bank of America denies that it's made any decisions yet. Read more here.
The big loser
On the down side, Hewlett-Packard (NYS: HPQ) lost an even 5% this week. The reason here doesn't require much speculation. Its disappointing earnings on February 22 helped fuel nine straight losing sessions for HP before a slight uptick on Friday.
Meanwhile many of us value investors have this question on our minds: Have shares fallen enough to compensate for the drop in earnings power? Read about the latest quarter here.
If HP's value play vs. value trap debate isn't your speed, you can read about another Dow component whose business is on more solid footing in our free report, "3 American Companies Set to Dominate the World." Click here to read all about it.
At the time thisarticle was published Anand Chokkaveluowns shares of JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, but he holds no other position in any company mentioned.Click hereto see his holdings and a short bio. The Motley Fool owns shares of Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase, and owns shares of and has created a covered strangle position in Wells Fargo. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
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