Disco and More Big Movers in Financial on November 15, 2012

The market is currently down, with the Nasdaq slipping 0.4%, the S&P 500 declining 0.3% and the Dow falling 0.3%. The financial sector is the category of stocks containing firms that provide financial services to commercial and retail customers. This sector includes banks, investment funds, insurance companies and real estate. Financial services perform best in low interest rate environments. A large portion of this sector generates revenue from mortgages and loans, which gain value as interest rates drop. Furthermore, when the business cycle is in an upswing, the financial sector benefits from additional investments. Improved economic conditions usually lead to more capital projects and increased personal investing. New projects require financing, which usually leads to a larger number of loans.

The Financial sector (XLF) is up 0.1% on a bad day for the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector are currently:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Moneygram International (NYSE:MGI)	$719.2 million	-10.9%
General American Investors Co (NYSE:GAM)	$788.5 million	-5.4%
Triangle (NYSE:TCAP)	$614.7 million	+5.1%
First Cash Financial Services (Nasdaq:FCFS)	$1.2 billion	+4.5%
Disco (NYSE:DFS)	$20.18 billion	-4%
Altisource Portfolio Solutions (Nasdaq:ASPS)	$2.39 billion	-3.6%
Health Net (NYSE:HNT)	$1.94 billion	+2.9%

Broker Summary: Fidelity Online Brokerage

Shares of Moneygram International (NYSE:MGI) are currently trading at $11.07, a steep decline of 10.9%. So far today, the company's volume is 83,188 shares, 0.9 times its current daily average.

Slipping 5.4%, General American Investors Co (NYSE:GAM) is currently trading at $26.04 per share. So far today, 21,796 shares have changed hands.

Triangle (NYSE:TCAP) is at $23.64 per share after an increase of 5.1%. The company's volume is currently 334,830 shares for the day, which is likely to result in less activity than yesterday's volume of 1.8 million shares.

First Cash Financial Services (Nasdaq:FCFS) has increased to a share price of $43.70, a 4.5% rise. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 84,058 shares. This is consistent with its current three-month average.

Disco (NYSE:DFS) is down 4% to reach $38.40 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 4.4 million shares, one times the average daily volume.

At $98.80, Altisource Portfolio Solutions (Nasdaq:ASPS) has slipped 3.6%. The company's volume for the day so far is 145,828 shares.

Health Net (NYSE:HNT) is currently trading at $24.55 per share, a 2.9% increase. So far today, the company's volume is 384,552 shares, with trading activity in keeping with yesterday's lighter than yesterday's volume of 853,703 shares.

The Bottom Line No matter the economic climate, Wall Street will always have stocks that make major moves each week. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. Tools like valuation ratios and profit margins, however, are only as useful as the context you put them in; remember to take historical data and competitor performance into account.