Capital Goods Stocks, Including Cummins, Making Big Moves on October 18, 2012

After the morning's trading, the Nasdaq has slipped 0.3%, the S&P 500 is unchanged and the Dow has increased 0.1%. The capital goods sector is the category of stocks related to the manufacture or distribution of goods. The sector is diverse, containing companies that manufacture machinery used to create capital goods, electrical equipment, aerospace and defense, engineering and construction projects. It is also referred to as the "industrials sector". Performance in the capital goods sector is sensitive to fluctuations in the business cycle. Because it relies heavily on manufacturing, the sector does well when the economy is booming or expanding. As economic conditions worsen, the demand for capital goods drops off, usually lowering the prices of stocks in the sector.

The Capital Goods sector (XLI) has risen 0.3% so far today and here are its biggest movers:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Lindsay (NYSE:LNN)	$904.7 million	+6.9%
USG (NYSE:USG)	$2.44 billion	+4.6%
Esterline (NYSE:ESL)	$1.85 billion	-2.4%
Fluor (NYSE:FLR)	$9.64 billion	+2.2%
NVR (NYSE:NVR)	$4.51 billion	+1.7%
REGAL-BELOIT (NYSE:RBC)	$2.85 billion	+1.6%
Cummins (NYSE:CMI)	$17.6 billion	+1.5%

Broker Summary: OptionsXpress Online Trading Platform

Lindsay (NYSE:LNN) has risen 6.9% to hit a current price of $76.05 per share. So far today, 162,867 shares of the company's stock have changed hands. At this rate, trading activity will likely be down from yesterday when 545,268 shares changed hands.

Increasing 4.6%, USG (NYSE:USG) is trading at $23.77 per share. The company's volume is currently 4.3 million shares for the day, 1.9 times its current three-month average.

At $58.45, Esterline (NYSE:ESL) has slipped 2.4%. So far today, 57,830 shares have changed hands.

Rising 2.2%, Fluor (NYSE:FLR) is currently trading at $59.02 per share. At 288,280 shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.2 times the average daily volume.

After an increase of 1.7%, NVR (NYSE:NVR) has reached a current price of $891.01. The company is trading at a volume of 10,526 shares. At this rate, trading activity will likely be down from yesterday when 54,935 shares changed hands.

REGAL-BELOIT (NYSE:RBC) has risen 1.6% and is currently trading at $69.43 per share. With 26,397 shares changing hands so far today, the company's volume is 0.1 times the average volume over the last three months.

Cummins (NYSE:CMI) is currently trading at $93.83 per share, a 1.5% increase. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 903,138 shares.

The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. Daily stock performance should be weighed against historical performance and put in context of the market overall. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.