The Dow Dazzles — Monday’s IP Market Recap

by Kyle Woodley | March 26, 2012 5:04 pm

[1]Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday kept investors’ hopes high for a continued low-interest environment, and the markets headed higher, including a 160-point gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Gains were broad among the Dow components, with American Express (NYSE:AXP[2]) leading its brethren with a 2.5% gain on news the company would hike its dividend for the first time in almost five years. AXP’s quarterly payout will jump 11% to 20 cents per share on May 10 to shareholders of record on April 5, good for a 1.2% yield on its closing price of $58.66.

Other strong Dow performers included financial giant JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM[3], +2.2%) and Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS[4], +1.7%). All but one component was up for the day — Verizon (NYSE:VZ[5]), down just a quarter of a percent.

Far outshining the Dow, though, was automaker Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA[6]), which gained almost 10% after a Wunderlich Securities analyst upgraded shares from hold to buy with a price target of $49. The analyst cited optimism on production of the company’s Model S sedan. TSLA closed Friday trading around $34 but finished on Monday at an all-time high of $37.40.

One of today’s dimmer stories was Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ:GMCR[7]), which was headed toward slight gains but fell to a 2% decline in the afternoon. The drop came soon after Bloomberg reported[8] that the company’s founder and chairman sold more than $66 million worth of stock just before its plunge sparked by Starbucks’ (NASDAQ:SBUX[9]) announcement of its own single-cup brewer[10].

Three Up

• Threshold Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:THLD[11]): Up 9.4% (69 cents) to $8.03.
• Cheniere Energy (AMEX:LNG[12]): Up 7.1% ($1.02) to $15.41.
• Office Depot (NYSE:ODP[13]): Up 7.1% (25 cents) to $3.79.

Three Down

• Broadvision (NASDAQ:BVSN[14]): Down 14% ($4.63) to $28.50.
• KB Home (NYSE:KBH[15]): Down 6.5% (67 cents) to $9.62.
• Sina Corp. (NASDAQ:SINA[16]): Down 4.7% ($3.25) to $65.78.

Kyle Woodley[17] is the assistant editor of InvestorPlace.com[18]. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Check out recaps from previous trading days here[19].

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/03/the-dow-dazzles-mondays-ip-market-recap/

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