EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Jim Cramer's Protégé, Dave Peltier, only buys Stock Under $10 that he thinks could potentially double or triple in the next 6 to 12-months. See what he's trading today with a 14-day FREE pass.

Reprint Email

TheStreet Wire

Dow Today: Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) Leads The Day Higher, Home Depot (HD) Lags

By TheStreet Wire 12/04/12 - 04:30 PM EST

Find out if (HPQ) is in Cramer's Portfolio.

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed down 14.0 points (-0.1%) at 12,951. During the day, 576.9 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 628 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio closed at 1,438 issues advancing vs. 1,529 declining with 148 unchanged.

EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Jim Cramer's Protégé, Dave Peltier, only buys Stocks Under $10 that he thinks could potentially double. See what he's trading today with a 14-day FREE pass.

The Dow component that led the way higher today was Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), which sported a 66-cent gain (+5.1%) bringing the stock to $13.53. Volume for Hewlett-Packard ended the day at 36.3 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 30.3 million shares.

Hewlett-Packard has a market cap of $25.54 billion and is part of the technology sector and computer hardware industry. Shares are down 50% year to date as of Monday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 4.1%.

Hewlett-Packard Company and its subsidiaries provide products, technologies, software, solutions, and services to individual consumers and small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), as well as to the government, health, and education sectors worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 3.2, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Hewlett-Packard as a sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, generally high debt management risk, disappointing return on equity, generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

You can view the full Hewlett-Packard Ratings Report.

Holding the Dow back today was Home Depot (NYSE:HD), which lagged the broader Dow index with a 74-cent decline (-1.1%) bringing the stock to $64.24. This single loss lowered the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 5.6 points or roughly accounting for 40% of the Dow's overall loss. Volume for Home Depot ended the day at 7.7 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 8.5 million shares.

See our dividend calendar or top-yielding stocks list.

Home Depot has a market cap of $97.29 billion and is part of the services sector and retail industry. Shares are up 54.6% year to date as of Monday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 1.8%.

The Home Depot, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer. The company's stores sell building materials, and home improvement and lawn and garden products to do-it-yourself, do-it-for-me (at D-I-F-M), and professional customers. The company has a P/E ratio of 23.1, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Home Depot as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, growth in earnings per share, revenue growth, notable return on equity and increase in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow.

You can view the full Home Depot Ratings Report.

Holiday Special: Subscribe to Action Alerts PLUS to see how Jim Cramer trades his $2.5 Million+ portfolio for 51% off the list price. Your first 14-days are FREE: Sign up today to get e-mail alerts before every trade.

For more information on Home Depot Inc. click any of the following:

Jim Cramer and Stephanie Link actively manage a real portfolio and reveal their money management tactics while giving advanced notice before every trade.

Product Features:

$2.5+ million portfolio
Large-cap and dividend focus
Intraday trade alerts from Cramer
Weekly roundups

Dividend Stock Advisor

TRY IT FREE

New! $49.95/yr

Jim Cramer's protege, David Peltier, identifies the best of breed dividend stocks that will pay a reliable AND significant income stream.

Product Features:

Diversified model portfolio of dividend stocks
Alerts when market news affect the portfolio
Bi-weekly updates with exact steps to take - BUY, HOLD, SELL

Stocks Under $10

TRY IT FREE

David Peltier, uncovers low dollar stocks with extraordinary upside potential that are flying under Wall Street's radar.

Product Features:

Model portfolio
Stocks trading below $10
Intraday trade alerts
Weekly roundups

Real Money

TRY IT FREE

24/7 market commentary from Jim Cramer and 20+ veteran Wall Street gurus. Get access to the latest trading ideas on stocks, options, and ETFs as well as a real-time forum to see the pros exchanging their investment ideas.

Product Features:

Jim Cramer + 20 Wall Street pros
Intraday commentary & news
Real-time trading forum
Actionable trade ideas

Real Money Pro

TRY IT FREE

All of Real Money, plus 15 more of Wall Street's sharpest minds delivering actionable trading ideas, a comprehensive look at the market, and fundamental and technical analysis.

Product Features:

Real Money + Doug Kass + 15 more Wall Street Pros
Intraday commentary & news
Ultra-actionable trading ideas

Options Profits

TRY IT FREE

Our options trading pros provide daily market commentary and over 100 monthly option trading ideas and strategies to help you become a well-seasoned trader.