Stocks have come up off their lows in late morning trading, but are still lower on the day. China’s economic outlook is keeping investors at bay today. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is rallying this morning in an unusual move against the market after the bank said it has no intention of introducing additional equity in a secondary offering, contrary to recent rumors. BAC shares are currently up 4.51% at $9.96.
Approaching midday, the Dow is down about 70 points, the Nasdaq is down 18 points and the S&P 500 is down 6 points.
NYSE Stocks to Watch
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) is up 6.79% today at $73.35. TIF has traded heavy volume already today with 5.1 million shares traded, more than double its daily average. TIF shares are climbing today after issuing a strong forecast for 2012. Tiffany did post a slight drop in fourth quarter earnings, but investors ignored that in favor of its forecast. The company has a market cap of 9.30 billion.
Potash Corporation (NYSE:POT) is up 3.76% this morning at $46.89. POT has traded 8.8 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 7.4 million shares. POT shares as well as other potash producers are up today after Glencore bought Viterra for $6.18 billion. The company has a market cap of 40.47 billion.
FXCM Inc. (NYSE:FXCM) is up 3.58% today at $12.70. FXCM has traded 255 thousand shares this morning and trades 318 thousand shares a day on average. FXCM shares continue to trade higher after posting fourth quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates last week. The company has a market cap of 252.96 million.
Chico’s FAS, Inc. (NYSE:CHS) is up 3.31% today at $15.59. CHS has traded 1.3 million shares so far today and should surpass its daily average volume of 2.8 million shares. Chico stock has been trading in between $15 and $16 for a month now and the stock is up more than $4 on the year. The company has a market cap of 2.57 billion.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is up 2.5% this morning at $20.57. MS has traded 14.5 million shares so far today and trades 24.8 million shares a day on average. Financial stocks continue to head higher as the overall market slumps today. The financial sector is seeing gains today after Jefferies Group reported upbeat quarterly results. The company has a market cap of 40.82 billion.
US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC) is up 2.50% today at $7.37. LCC is trading light volume today with 2.8 million shares traded. The stock trades 8.3 million shares a day on average. LCC shares are bouncing back slightly today after dropping about $0.50 late last week and yesterday. The company has a market cap of 1.20 billion.
The Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) is up 4.22% today at $31.70. WMB has traded 9.3 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 6.5 million shares traded. WMB shares are up this morning on news that Williams will acquire Caiman Eastern Midstream for $2.5 billion.
About Martin Stephenson
