Why 3 Stocks Bucked the Dow's Trend
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) headed south again today. The Dow now sits at 12,811, down 121 points, or 0.94%. The other two major indexes also headed in the wrong directions today: the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) lost 17 points, or 1.22%, while the Nasdaq(NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) dropped 41 points, or 1.42%. My Fool colleague John Maxfield noted this morning that today's move lower is likely related to the fiscal cliff and the overall economic impact if our government can't come together and find a solution.
Today, 26 of the 30 Dow components ended the day in the red. This morning, I explained why McDonald's (NYS: MCD) , Chevron (NYS: CVX) , and Cisco (NAS: CSCO) , happened to be three of the Dow's biggest losers of the day. But four companies managed to buck the overall trend and move higher today, three of which were Boeing (NYS: BA) , Bank of America (NYS: BAC) , Travelers (NYS: TRV) .
So why are they higher?
Just days ago, I wrote about how Boeing had signed a deal for at least 60 of its new 737 Max airplanes and, today, the company signed another deal for 20 more of the 737s. This time, the buyer is a Kuwaiti airplane leasing company called ALAFCO. The purchase agreement is worth around $2 billion, and moves the net orders for this program to 990 airplanes, or a rough total of $49.5 billion worth of purchase agreements. This also increases the company's total net orders for the year to 1,009. Shares of Boeing moved higher today by 1.24%.
Boeing also announced that it's looking into building a larger 787 model plane. The 787-10 would accommodate 40 more passengers, and better compete on size with a plane currently being built by rival Airbus.
After a disastrous day yesterday for the Dow financials, today, investors gained back some loses. After dropping more than 7% yesterday, investors poured back into the stock, and shares rose 1.73% today. While the news was not directly related to Bank of America, the Federal Reserve approved JPMorgan Chase (NYS: JPM) to begin a share buyback program. Although Bank of America has not announced any intentions to begin a similar share buyback program or increase its dividend, this does indicate that the government will allow such programs if it feels that the bank is healthy enough in the future.
Lastly, insurance company Travelers moved higher by 0.42% during today's session. Fitch ratings agency announced this morning that property insurers have more capital than they need to cover damages from Hurricane Sandy. Currently, insured damages are being estimated at $20 billion, but Fitch has tested the insurers with scenarios projecting damage of nearly twice that. Fitch does not believe that any ratings changes will be necessary for most of the U.S. insurers after the full damage of the storm has been determined.
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The article Why 3 Stocks Bucked the Dow's Trend originally appeared on Fool.com.
Matt Thalman owns shares of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and McDonald's. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Chevron and McDonald's. 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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