What's Behind The Dow's Huge Gain Today

Markets are poised to end the month on a very high note after European leaders agreed to allow countries to recapitalize banks directly. This move will allow the countries to avoid increasing their budget deficits. There weren't particularly high hopes for the summit, so this news certainly had investors excited. The Dow has jumped over 200 points, around 2%, on the day, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gaining over 2%. Individually, Bank of America and United Technologies are big winners so far, but a surprising loser is Ford. Check out the video below for more on why these companies are big movers today.

Despite the good news today, there is still a tremendous amount of uncertainty surrounding Europe. That may tempt many investors to take their money and run far from the market. But that can be one of the biggest mistakes investors can make. Some of the most successful stock picks are great dividend stocks purchased at attractive valuations on dips in the market. With that in mind, we've taken an in-depth look at all 30 Dow components and picked out our three favorite Dow dividend stocks that investors can buy right now. You can find the names and analysis of these companies in our brand-new free report: "The 3 Dow Stocks Dividend Investors Need." Read the report now -- it's absolutely free.

The article What's Behind The Dow's Huge Gain Today originally appeared on Fool.com.

Brendan Byrnes owns shares of Ford and United Technologies. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America and Ford. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Ford. 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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