Dow Climbs on Earnings Anticipation

Go ahead and take a breath. A deep breath -- using your nose, not your mouth. Do you smell that? No, it's not flowers blooming or the livelihood of spring. It's earnings season, and it kicked off this afternoon. Wall Street seemed to like the aroma Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 48 points, or 0.3%, to close at 14,613.

Alcoa was the particular focus of the day, and the stock added 1.8% in anticipation of its after-hours report. When the numbers finally came, however, results were mixed. The aluminum producer beat profit expectations, but sales disappointed, falling from $6.01 billion in the year-ago quarter to $5.83 billion in the recent period. Alcoa's CEO projects a better year ahead in 2013, but shares traded marginally lower following the announcement.

The next blue chip to announce earnings will be JPMorganChase on Thursday. Its stock, too, ended toward the top of the Dow, adding 1.4% after the bank redeemed almost $5 billion in high-yielding preferred shares. Perhaps more influential, though, is talk that CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon could be ousted from his position at the head of the board; last year's $6 billion losses from a single trader dubbed the "London Whale" have raised the eyebrows of both investors and regulators. Dimon's in the hot seat.

Even while dealing with internal problems, JPMorgan downgraded Johnson & Johnson shares, sending stock in the health-care company 1.1% lower. Predicting lower guidance from the business at its earnings call next Tuesday, the analyst -- as analysts are prone to do -- got oddly precise with the numbers, claiming the company's stock is overvalued by 8%.

Still, the biggest mover in the index today was Bank of America , which added 2% to start the week. B of A doesn't report until next Wednesday, but financials as a whole outperformed today. Although there wasn't major news from the Charlotte-based bank, shares are nearly 80% more volatile than the broader market, making 2% swings like today's more common than most other stocks.

That volatility is part of what allowed Bank of America's stock to double in 2012. Is there more yet to come? With significant challenges still ahead, it's critical to have a solid understanding of this megabank before adding it to your portfolio. In The Motley Fool's premium research report on B of A, analysts Anand Chokkavelu, CFA, and Matt Koppenheffer, financials bureau chief, lift the veil on the bank's operations, including detailing three reasons to buy and three reasons to sell. Click here now to claim your copy.

The article Dow Climbs on Earnings Anticipation originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor John Divine has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow him on Twitter, @divinebizkid, and on Motley Fool CAPS, @TMFDivine.The Motley Fool recommends Johnson & Johnson and owns shares of Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, and JPMorgan Chase. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't 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.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.