15 Reasons Markets Moved This Week

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Dow 11,823 S&P500 1,276 Nasdaq 2,686 Gold 1,340

The Dow and S&P attached 12,000 and 1,300 respectively, but bulls weren’t ready to make the commitment.

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Now, for the 15 reasons markets moved this week:

Monday

• Tech rallied hard to start the week. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) announced a dividend raise and share buyback, igniting more lust for tech. Get the Details: Sector Spotlight: Technology Bounces Off Resistance >>

• Alcoa’s (NYSE:AA) CEO reiterated continued demand for aluminum this year. The materials sector (NYSE:XLB) had a nice pop. Don’t Miss: Stock Analysis: My Love-Hate Relationship with Caterpillar >>

• Oil (NYSE:USO) pulled back 1.4% to $87.86. The Saudis are playing rhetoric games about reducing supply. Don’t Miss: What Bubble? Commodities Have More Upside in 2011 >>

Here are Monday’s Top Moving Stocks:

• J.C. Penney Company (NYSE:JCP), Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (NYSE:SSCC), Clinical Data, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLDA), McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE), Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), Rock-Tenn Company (NYSE:RKT), Optical Cable Corporation (NASDAQ:OCCF), Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW), Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB), Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD).
• Now Check Out Today’s Sector Spotlight on Technology >>

Tuesday

• The day started weak with Blue Chips under-delivering on earnings. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) helped pull the Dow down.

• Although Case-Shiller Housing data continued to free-fall, Consumer Confidence hit an 8-month high. Home prices dropped 1.6%, but consumers are high on the new year — go figure. Don’t Miss: Macro Economic Mashup: Consumer Sentiment Hits a High But Case-Shiller Home Price Index Continues Decline >>

• Gold (NYSE:GLD) hit a 3-month low. Shaking out the weak hands, or something bigger? Don’t Miss: Spec Money Exits Gold & Silver but Remains Heavily Long Other Markets >>

Here are Tuesday’s Top Moving Stocks:

• E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (NYSE:DD), Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG), Tellabs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLAB), Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB), Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (NASDAQ:EGLE), Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW), 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT), Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE:ETH), BlackRock, Inc (NYSE:BLK), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Coach (NYSE:COH), The Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV), Verizon (NYSE:VZ).
• Now Check Out Why These Shares Moved >>

Wednesday

• New Home Sales came in better than expected. Sales were up 17.5% month-over-month, but finished 2010 down 14% from 2009. Check Out: CHART JUNKIE: 2010 New Home Sales in Historic Perspective >>

• Demand Media (NYSE:DMD) and Nielsen Holdings (NYSE:NLSN) sparked some excitement over the IPO market. IPOs are the key to a new crop of leaders getting investors excited again. Don’t Miss: US IPO Explosion: Nielsen Soars 11% While Demand Media Shoots the Moon >>

• Gold (NYSE:GLD) bounced back. The Fed will keep the $600 billion dollar bond purchase program — inflation is not out of the question. Don’t Miss: Spec Money Exits Gold & Silver but Remains Heavily Long Other Markets >>

Here are Wednesday’s Top Moving Stocks:

• Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX), Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK), MicroStrategy Incorporated. (NASDAQ:MSTR), Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK), The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA), National Instruments Corp (NASDAQ:NATI), Keynote Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:KEYN), Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY), QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), E TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC), Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC).
• Now Check Out Why These Shares Moved >>

Thursday

• Really, who knows. Initial Unemployment Claims disappointed, some big companies like P&G (NYSE:PG) disappointed, and Egypt crashed while Japan’s (NYSE:EWJ) debt was downgraded.Here are Some Cool Charts of Historical Unemployment Claims >>

• Davos. It’s all about Davos right now — so maybe people who move markets are feeling jolly.

• Gold (NYSE:GLD) and Silver (NYSE:SLV) got clobbered. If you love volatility, precious metals are the place to be. Don’t Miss: Spec Money Exits Gold & Silver but Remains Heavily Long Other Markets >>

Here are Thursday’s Top Moving Stocks:

• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), ProLogis (NYSE:PLD), Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE:UA), Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR), Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE:TER), Potash Corp./Saskatchewan (NYSE:POT), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), AT&T (NYSE:T), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL), Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT).
• Now Check Out Why These Shares Moved >>

Friday

• Every trader in the world clicked “sell” when the Dow hit 12,000 and the S&P 500 hit 1,300. We’ll have to wait for the follow through days to see whether the rally loses real steam. Can the Major Indexes Break Above Significant Technical Levels? >>

• The riots in Egypt have brought Geo-Political risk back to the stage. Oil (NYSE:USO) was the big winner as violence, riots, and fear spread. On another note, Check Out these awesome charts of today’s US GDP number in historical perspective >>

• Gold (NYSE:GLD) and Silver (NYSE:SLV) followed Oil into the portfolios of fear. Don’t Miss: Spec Money Exits Gold & Silver but Remains Heavily Long Other Markets >>

Here are Friday’s Top Moving Stocks:

• Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW), SAVVIS, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVVS), Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX), Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM), Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM), Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Frontline Ltd (NYSE:FRO), Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHR), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Honeywell International Inc (NYSE:HON).

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