Financial Stocks, Including Berkshire Hathaway, Making Big Moves on December 12, 2012

The Nasdaq has remained steady, the S&P 500 is trading up 0.2% and the Dow has risen 0.2% so far today. 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.

These are the biggest movers in the Financial sector (XLF) (+0.7%):

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Altisource Portfolio Solutions (Nasdaq:ASPS)	$2.4 billion	+5.2%
Stifel (NYSE:SF)	$1.69 billion	-4.5%
Templeton Global Income (NYSE:GIM)	$1.29 billion	-4.5%
Aetna (NYSE:AET)	$14.88 billion	+4.2%
Templeton Emerging Markets Income (NYSE:TEI)	$835.1 million	-4.2%
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B)	$95.98 billion	+2.5%
Ares (Nasdaq:ARCC)	$4.35 billion	-2.5%

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Altisource Portfolio Solutions (Nasdaq:ASPS) is up 5.2% to reach a current price of $108.02 per share. The company is currently trading a volume of 182,925 shares.

Falling 4.5%, Stifel (NYSE:SF) is currently at a share price of $30.02. At 341,928 shares, the company's volume so far today is 1.1 times the average daily volume.

Templeton Global Income (NYSE:GIM) is down 4.5% to reach $9.22 per share. The company's volume is currently 271,154 shares. This is about the same trading activity as there was yesterday.

Aetna (NYSE:AET) has increased to a share price of $46.37, a 4.2% rise. The company's volume for the day so far is 3.6 million shares, 0.9 times its current three-month average.

Templeton Emerging Markets Income (NYSE:TEI) is trading at $16.77 per share, down 4.2%. The company's volume for the day so far is 37,506 shares.

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) has risen 2.5% and is currently trading at $89.49 per share. At 4.9 million shares, the company's volume so far today is 1.2 times its current daily average.

Ares (Nasdaq:ARCC) has fallen 2.5% and is currently trading at $17.07 per share. The company is trading at a volume of 423,763 shares. At this rate, trading activity will likely be down from yesterday when 2.8 million shares changed hands.

The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. Keep in mind that all these ratios should be compared against historical numbers and industry information in order to get a more complete picture.