Exelon Among Utilities' Biggest Movers on November 26, 2012

On a bad day for the market, the Nasdaq has declined 0.4%, the S&P 500 is trading down 0.7% and the Dow has fallen 0.8%. The utilities sector is a category of stocks for utilities such as gas and power. It contains companies such as electric, gas and water firms and integrated providers. Because utilities require significant infrastructure, these firms often carry large amounts of debt. With a high debt load, utilities companies become sensitive to changes in the interest rate. As interest rates rise or drop, the debt payments will increase or decrease. The utilities sector performs best when interest rates are falling or remain low.

Despite a bad day for the market overall so far, the Utilities sector (XLU) is up 1.4% and its biggest movers are currently:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Exelon (NYSE:EXC)	$24.41 billion	+3.5%
Crosstex Energy (Nasdaq:XTXI)	$599.3 million	-2.8%
Companhia Paranaense de Energia (NYSE:ELP)	$3.65 billion	-2.4%
Gas Natural (NYSE:GAS)	$4.42 billion	+2.3%
Huaneng Power International, Inc (NYSE:HNP)	$11.59 billion	-2.2%
MGE Energy (Nasdaq:MGEE)	$1.13 billion	+2.2%
American States (NYSE:AWR)	$829.6 million	+2.1%

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Increasing 3.5%, Exelon (NYSE:EXC) is trading at $29.58 per share. At 4.8 million shares, the company's volume so far today is consistent with its average over the last three months.

Currently trading at $12.29 per share, Crosstex Energy (Nasdaq:XTXI) has fallen 2.8%. The company's volume for the day so far is 15,873 shares.

At $13, Companhia Paranaense de Energia (NYSE:ELP) has slipped 2.4%. So far today, the company's volume is 184,754 shares, 0.3 times its current daily average.

Gas Natural (NYSE:GAS) is at $38.42 per share after an increase of 2.3%. The company is trading at a volume of 128,708 shares. This is about the same trading activity as there was yesterday.

Huaneng Power International, Inc (NYSE:HNP) has decreased to $32.27 per share, a 2.2% fall. With 16,223 shares changing hands so far today, the company's volume is 0.2 times its average over the past three months.

Rising 2.2%, MGE Energy (Nasdaq:MGEE) is currently trading at $49.88 per share. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 5,754 shares.

American States (NYSE:AWR) has moved up 2.1% and is currently trading at $44.06 per share. The company's volume is currently 23,900 shares for the day, 0.3 times the average daily volume.

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.