Traders-Blog.com

Again, U.S stocks ended higher today. The Dow rose 28.74 points, to close at 10,493.19. Besides, the Nasdaq and the S&P posted gains. The Nasdaq rose 11.93 points, to close at 2,042.58, while the S&P rose 5.52 points, to close at 1,191.08.

America West Holdings Corp., and US Airways Group Inc. agreed to merge, in order to create a national low-fare carrier, with $1.5 billion in funding from investors, and vendors. The merger is also getting financial support from Airbus SAS, Air Canada parent ACE Aviation Holdings Inc., among others. The airlines reported that the merger would occur after US Airways exits bankruptcy. Additional capital was needed because America West did not have enough cash to acquire U.S Airways on its own. But the agreement is not approved yet.

Among Dow components, DuPont and Alcoa Inc, were among the losers. DuPont fell 0.9 percent, to close at $47.61, after a report indicated that the company had received a subpoena from the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia for the production of documents related to chemicals used in nonstick pans, which might cause health problems. Anyhow, DuPont marketed Teflon in the past as “miracle material”, since it was introduced in the late 1950’s.

Also, Alcoa Inc. fell 0.7% to $27.67, after the maker of aluminum products announced that it plans to close a Kentucky auto-part castings plant by the end of the year. By closing the facility, 158 employees will be affected. Besides, Alcoa would take a pretax charge of $45 million to $50 million against second-quarter results.

However, General Motors Corp. was the biggest winners in the Dow, since it rose 3.6 percent, to close at $32.75, as investors took advantage of recent share-price weakness to snap up the stock. Nevertheless, in the last year shares of General Motors have fallen around 21 percent.

All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter
Guaranteed monthly gains of 8% or your money back.