Dow and Other Big Movers In Basic Materials on October 24, 2012

After the morning's trading, the Nasdaq is unchanged, the S&P 500 has climbed 0.1% and the Dow is up 0.3%. The basic materials sector is the category of stocks that accounts for companies involved with the discovery, development and processing of raw materials. This sector includes the mining and refining of metals, chemical producers and forestry products. The basic materials sector is sensitive to changes in the business cycle. Because the sector supplies materials for construction, it depends on a strong economy. This sector is also sensitive to supply and demand fluctuations because the price of raw materials, such as gold or other metals, is largely demand driven.

These are the biggest movers in the Basic Materials sector (XLB) (+0.6%):

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
PolyOne (NYSE:POL)	$1.49 billion	+9.8%
Allegheny Technologies (NYSE:ATI)	$3.39 billion	-8.2%
Buckeye Technologies (NYSE:BKI)	$1.2 billion	-7.4%
Dow (NYSE:DOW)	$34.21 billion	+7.3%
Stepan (NYSE:SCL)	$1 billion	-6.1%
Teck (NYSE:TCK)	$17.73 billion	+3.3%
Syngenta AG (NYSE:SYT)	$33.9 billion	+2.2%

Broker Summary: Fidelity Online Brokerage

After an increase of 9.8%, PolyOne (NYSE:POL) has reached a current price of $18.49. So far today, the company's volume is two million shares, 4.3 times the current daily average.

Allegheny Technologies (NYSE:ATI) is down 8.2% to reach $29 per share. The company's volume is currently two million shares. This is more trading activity than there was yesterday.

Buckeye Technologies (NYSE:BKI) is trading at $28.04 per share, down 7.4%. The company's volume is currently 499,889 shares for the day, 2.4 times the current three-month average.

Dow (NYSE:DOW) has moved up 7.3% and is currently trading at $30.63 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 11.9 million shares.

Falling 6.1%, Stepan (NYSE:SCL) is currently at a share price of $90.85. So far today, the company's volume is 18,443 shares, 0.9 times the average daily volume.

Increasing 3.3%, Teck (NYSE:TCK) is trading at $31.75 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 1.6 million shares. This is about the same trading activity as there was yesterday.

Syngenta AG (NYSE:SYT) has risen 2.2% to hit a current price of $75.92 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 69,865 shares, 0.6 times its current three-month average.

The Bottom Line No matter the economic climate, Wall Street will always have stocks that make major moves each week. 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.