One Sector I’m Not Worried About

The Dow Industrials fell slightly yesterday on losses by three of major components. United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX ) led the list, off 3.01%, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD ) fell 1.38%, and EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD ) was down 1.21%. But financial stocks had another strong day with Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC ), up 5.5%, leading the list of blue chips. Other winners included Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO ), up 2.07%, and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ ), up 1.7%. Initial jobless claims, for the week ended Dec. 4, fell to 421,000 when 429,000 was expected. And continuing claims fell to a two-year low of 4.09 million, though some of that could be the result of the jobless falling from the list but still unemployed. There was a spurt of early buying resulting from the favorable jobs report, but it soon lost steam. The result was that, although two of the three major indices posted small gains, the market lacked both momentum and leadership. Though financials were the strongest sector, up 1.3%, they failed to have impact on the broad market.  In corporate news, American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG ) rose 13% after entering into an agreement with the government, which covers the rights of the Treasury Department in an accelerated exit plan. Youku.com Inc. (NYSE: YOKU ) jumped 28% after the Chinese company had a strong debut in U.S. markets, and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX ) rose 1.9% after announcing a $1-per-share special dividend and a 2-for-1 stock split. Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB ) spiked 19% after signing a contract with Clear Channel Radio, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM )‎ raised its rating to overweight from neutral. Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NYSE: SFD ) rose 11% following a swing to profitability in its second quarter. U.S. Treasurys rose following two days of selling. The 10-year benchmark note’s yield fell to 3.228%, and the 30-year bond’s yield rose to 4.401%. The U.S. dollar fell versus the yen, and the euro fell to $1.3243 from $1.3263 on Wednesday. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2 points to 11,370, the S&P 500 rose 5 points at 1,233, and the Nasdaq gained 8 points at 2,616. The NYSE traded just over 1 billion shares with advancers over decliners by 1.3-to-1. The Nasdaq crossed 512 million shares with advancers ahead by 1.4-to-1. Crude oil for January delivery rose 9 cents to $88.37 a barrel, and the Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLE ) closed at $65.63, up 15 cents. December gold settled at $1,392.10 an ounce, up $9.60. The PHLX Gold/Silver Sector Index (NASDAQ: XAU ) rose 1.76 points to 222.21.
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