Despite a November Consumer Confidence Index which rose to the highest level since July 2007 and retail sales climbing 0.3% in October, the stock market finished mixed to flat again today, which has become a familiar trend over the past few days
The 89.4% CCI reading couldn’t stop the Dow Jones Industrial Average from falling 0.1% on the day. However, the S&P 500 finished up marginally, while the Nasdaq was the strongest of the three indices, climbing 0.18%.
A number of sectors were standouts today, including energy, basic materials and a surprisingly strong commodities sector. Among today’s standouts were Zillow Inc (Z), Pandora Media Inc (P) and Arch Coal Inc (ACI), all three of which have been trounced recently, but bounced back today on strong volume.
Zillow (Z)
The leading U.S. real estate informational website — which has tumbled from $165 all the way down to $105 after stating it would buy rival Trulia Inc (TRLA) — blasted up 10.98% to touch its 200-day moving average on 2.6 million shares. There was no major news on either Z or TRLA, but some short covering may have helped propel both stocks higher.
Pandora (P)
P stock was music to investors’ ears today, climbing 16.21% on huge volume of 30 million shares to finish at $21.44. Pandora is another beaten-down stock, falling from $30 to $18 over the last four months. The major reason for the strong day in P stock seems to be a report of significant insider buying at the company. Investors decided to jump on the bandwagon, assuming that better days are ahead for the company after it was reported that CEO Brian McAndrews bought 25,000 shares at $18.58 yesterday, boosting his personal stake by 5.55%.
Arch Coal (ACI)
ACI also enjoyed a great day, up 9.87%, although the volume of 8 million shares was less than half of the volume traded on recent up days. ACI was rallying along with the other coal stocks after Glencore said it would stop production at its Australian mine for three weeks. At the moment, there is a glut of supply worldwide. The coal stocks have also enjoyed some renewed interest since the Republican victory on Election Day, with the hope that more favorable political decisions will soon come their way.
Ethan Roberts does not own any of the stocks mentioned in this article.
