Everything Looking Up Early for Dow Jones

After three days of triple-digit losses, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
rebounded powerfully Wednesday morning, up more than 150 points to over 11,292,
gaining better than 1.35%. Whereas no Dow stocks were up in early trading
Tuesday, no Dow stocks were down in early trading Wednesday on hopes of a
European debt resolution and in anticipation of President Barack Obamas speech
on jobs in the United States. Bank of America , (NYSE: BAC ) the
worst-performing stock on the Dow for 2011 was a leader this morning, up more
than 30 cents and 3% to over $7.20. Senior management changes met with the
approval of Wall Street. Gone are Sallie Krawcheck, former head of wealth
management; Joe Price, former head of consumer banking; and Barbara Desoer,
former mortgage chief. Incoming as co-chief operating officers are David Darnell
and Thomas Montag. Both Krawcheck and Price were hired by Ken Lewis, the former
CEO of Bank of America. Hopes for a global economic recovery had Alcoa (NYSE: AA
) up more than 3% to over $12.15 per share, picking up more than 40 cents in
early action. Alcoa is up more than 9% for the week but down more than 24% for
the quarter. With a beta of 2.1, Alcoa is more than twice as volatile as the
market. Home Depot (NYSE: HD ) was trading higher by about 1.5%, gaining about
50 cents per share to around $32.50. Housing prices have risen for four months,
and Home Deport reported strong earnings while its main competitor, Lowes, did
not. Home Depot is up more than 5% for the month and 9% for the year. Global
growth hopes also had Wall Street happy with Big Oil as Chevron (NYSE: CVX )
rose about $3 to around $98.50, a gain of about 3%. A Wall Street Journal
article this morning reported that Chevron made a major oil discovery in the
Gulf of Mexico. While Chevron is up around 30% for the year, it is down more
than 3% for the week. Soaring to more than $20 per share was Intel (NASDAQ: INTC
), increasing by about 50 cents, or 2.7%. The tech sector was up today, led by
Yahoo, which replaced its CEO. Intel was upgraded by Barclays Capital and
Standpoint Research in August. Intel is down more than 4% for the week but up
more than 11% for the year. Travelers (NYSE: TRV ) was up about $1, or around
2%, to around $49.45. The financial sector, the worst-performing group in the
Dow for 2011, was up this morning. Travelers is down more than 4% for the week,
7% for the month and 20% for the quarter. With a beta of 0.64, a dividend of
3.38% and institutional ownership of 85.54%, Travelers is much less volatile
than the market. Jonathan Yates does not own any of the stocks mentioned in this
article.