Dow Watch: JPMorgan, Bank of America Fall
Updated from 1:01 p.m. EDT
Don't Be Concerned
(
At 6:05 p.m. EDT
)
The
wasn't able to rise again, and the index ended Tuesday down 115.89 points, or 1.5%, at 7659.97. I'm not worrying about it, and there's no reason you should either.
Let's be honest. It just wasn't a compelling session. After a day like
, none of us should be surprised that traders decided to pocket some of those profits. The range was only about 150 points, roughly 7647 to 7797.
Only three companies rose --
DuPont
(DD) - Get Report
,
Boeing
(BA) - Get Report
and
Kraft
(KFT)
, and
General Electric
(GE) - Get Report
was unchanged. The other 26 Dow components fell.
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
had the biggest decline, falling 9% to $26.27.
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
dropped 7.8% to $7.19. BofA and
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
were the most actively traded issues, with more than 500 million shares changing hands in each stock.
With the step back, the Dow cut its gain for the month to 8.5%. It's still up more than 1,100 points, or 17%, since March 9.
Quiet After the Rally
(
At 12:35 p.m. EDT
)
So we're getting a little pullback. Who cares? On Monday, the
Dow
advanced nearly
. A day later, it's down 53 points at 7723.
No one should be even remotely alarmed by the action. While only seven of the 30 Dow components were higher, the damage was fairly limited.
General Motors
(GM) - Get Report
was the worst performer on a percentage basis, losing 5.1% to $3.18. Again, no cause for concern. Since March 9, the day the Dow closed at a 12-year low, GM has doubled.
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
was down 3.2% at $3.03, and
Disney
(DIS) - Get Report
was off 3% at $18.35, but otherwise the losses were minor.
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
, which is seeing two more
veterans walk away, was lower by less than 1%.
As for the winners,
General Electric
(GE) - Get Report
was up 2.9% at $10.73, and
Boeing
(BA) - Get Report
was adding 2.2% to $36.28.
Basically, to this point we've got a yawner. Of course, we still have about three hours left, and we know well that afternoons can be volatile, so don't fall asleep just yet.
