This Stock Is Leading the Dow's Rally Today
The Dow is up today as reports surface that Congress is nearing a compromise on the fiscal cliff. As of 1:25 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 74 points, or 0.57%, to 13,209. The S&P 500 is up 0.87% to 1,426.
The weekend's big news was that House Speaker John Boehner proposed $1 trillion in tax raises to President Obama by letting the Bush tax cuts expire for those earning more than $1 million a year. In exchange, Boehner wants $1 trillion in spending cuts from various programs including Medicare, as well as a change in how cost-of-living adjustments are calculated for social security. Analysts see this as a good sign that a compromise can be reached. Democrats would like more revenue and would like the Bush-era tax cuts to expire for incomes greater than $250,000 per year.
The Motley Fool has created a special page that will be updated with all of our latest fiscal-cliff coverage to help cut through the daily noise and give you the information and analysis you need as an investor. Head on over for everything you need to know about fiscal cliff 2012.
With positive news on the fiscal-cliff negotiations, it's no surprise that the market is up.
Today's Dow leader
Today's Dow leader is Bank of America up 2.9% to $10.88. Banks' financial results are highly dependent on the health of the economy, so financial stocks are up on hopes that a compromise can be reached over the fiscal cliff.
Banks have been doing well this year. Fool analyst John Maxfield recently compiled five charts from the FDIC's Quarterly Banking Profile, which shows how the industry is recovering.
Bank of America has had a huge year in 2012. The bank's stock has soared 95.9% so far in 2012 as the bank settled with 49 states over the robo-signing fiasco, estimated its future liabilities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, divested noncore operations, and significantly improved its financial situation. More recently, the stock has been rising as the U.S. housing market continues to improve. For these and other reasons, Fool analyst John Maxfield thinks it's time to buy Bank of America.
To learn more about the most talked-about bank out there, check out our in-depth company report on Bank of America. The report details Bank of America's prospects, including three reasons to buy and three reasons to sell. Just click here to get access.
The article This Stock Is Leading the Dow's Rally Today originally appeared on Fool.com.
Dan Dzombak can be found Twitter @DanDzombak or on his Facebook page: DanDzombak. He owns shares of Bank of America. The Motley Fool owns shares of Bank of America. 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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