Dow Today: Bank Of America Corporation (BAC) Leads The Day Higher, American Express (AXP) Lags

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) is trading up nine points at 12,887 as of Wednesday, Feb 8, 2012, 9:39 a.m. ET. During this time, 46.3 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 818.6 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,705 issues advancing vs. 817 declining with 197 unchanged.

The Dow component leading the way higher looks to be Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), which is sporting an eight-cent gain (+1.1%) bringing the stock to $7.94. This single gain is lifting the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 0.61 points or roughly accounting for 6.8% of the Dow's overall gain. Volume for Bank of America Corporation currently sits at 18.6 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 271.9 million shares.

Bank of America Corporation has a market cap of $73.89 billion and is part of the financial sector and banking industry. Shares are up 41.2% year to date as of Tuesday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 0.5%.

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial services to individuals, small- and middle-market businesses, corporations, and governments primarily in the United States and internationally. The company has a P/E ratio of 797, above the average banking industry P/E ratio of 729 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Bank of America Corporation as a sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its generally weak debt management and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.

• You can view the full Bank of America Ratings Report.

Holding back the Dow today is American Express (NYSE:AXP), which is lagging the broader Dow index with a 41-cent decline (-0.8%) bringing the stock to $51.72. Volume for American Express currently sits at 350,219 shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 6.5 million shares.

• See our dividend calendar or top-yielding stocks list.

American Express has a market cap of $57.18 billion and is part of the financial sector and financial services industry. Shares are up 10.5% year to date as of Tuesday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 1.4%.

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides charge and credit payment card products, and travel-related services worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 12.7, above the average financial services industry P/E ratio of 11.9 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates American Express as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, notable return on equity, growth in earnings per share, increase in net income and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

• You can view the full American Express Ratings Report.

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