FirstEnergy and Other Big Movers In Utilities on December 13, 2012

It's been a bad day for the market after the morning's trading. The Nasdaq has declined 0.4%; the S&P 500 is down 0.3%; and the Dow has decreased 0.2%. 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.

The Utilities sector (XLU) is currently lagging behind the overall market, down 0.4%, and its current biggest movers are:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Exterran Partners (Nasdaq:EXLP)	$889.7 million	-2.2%
Huaneng Power International, Inc (NYSE:HNP)	$12.71 billion	-2.2%
UniSource (NYSE:UNS)	$1.76 billion	-1.9%
Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE:ETE)	$13.3 billion	-1.9%
Copano Energy (Nasdaq:CPNO)	$2.37 billion	-1.7%
FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE)	$17.23 billion	-1.5%
Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ)	$16.3 billion	-1.4%

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Exterran Partners (Nasdaq:EXLP) is trading at $20.58 per share, down 2.2%. The company's volume for the day so far is 40,370 shares.

Huaneng Power International, Inc (NYSE:HNP) has decreased to $35.38 per share, a 2.2% fall. So far today, the company's volume is 33,624 shares, 0.4 times the current three-month average.

Currently trading at $41.68 per share, UniSource (NYSE:UNS) has fallen 1.9%. So far today, 54,561 shares of the company's stock have changed hands. This is on pace to fall short of yesterday's volume of 177,126 shares.

After a decline of 1.9%, Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE:ETE) has hit a share price of $46.60. The company's volume is currently 221,487 shares for the day, 0.3 times the current daily average.

Copano Energy (Nasdaq:CPNO) has fallen 1.7% and is currently trading at $29.51 per share. So far today, 73,085 shares have changed hands.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) is down 1.5% to reach $40.59 per share. At 930,819 shares, the company's volume so far today is 0.4 times its current three-month average.

Slipping 1.4%, Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ) is currently trading at $45.23 per share. The company's volume is currently 491,437 shares. This is on pace to reach yesterday's trading volume of 1.1 million shares.

The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. Paying close attention to the previous ratios will help you identify key times to adjust your strategy. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.