Honda Motor Co., Ltd and Other Big Movers In Consumer Cyclical on December 19, 2012

The Nasdaq has moved up 0.1%, the S&P 500 is trading down 0.1% and the Dow has been relatively flat after the morning's trading. The consumer cyclical sector is a category of stocks that relies heavily on the business cycle and economic conditions. Consumer cyclicals include industries such as automotive, housing, entertainment and retail. The category can be further divided into durable and non-durable sections. Durable cyclicals include physical goods such as hardware or vehicles, while non-durables represent items like movies or hotel services. The performance of consumer cyclicals is highly related to the state of the economy. They represent goods and services that are not considered necessities, but luxurious purchases. During contractions or recessions, people have less disposable income to spend on consumer cyclicals. When the economy is expanding or booming, the sales of these goods rise as retail and leisure spending increase.

The biggest movers in the Consumer Cyclical sector (XLY) (unchanged) are:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
General (NYSE:GM)	$39.92 billion	+8.7%
Navistar (NYSE:NAV)	$1.83 billion	-6.3%
Sturm, Ruger (NYSE:RGR)	$777.9 million	+5.4%
Honda Motor Co., Ltd (NYSE:HMC)	$62.92 billion	+3.6%
Delphi (NYSE:DLPH)	$10.94 billion	+3%
Jarden (NYSE:JAH)	$3.93 billion	+2.6%
Superior Industries International (NYSE:SUP)	$534.9 million	-2.4%

Beginner's Guide To Thinkorswim Trading Platform

General (NYSE:GM) has increased to a share price of $27.71, a 8.7% rise. At 35.9 million shares, the company's volume so far today is 4.5 times the current three-month average.

Navistar (NYSE:NAV) is trading at $21.40 per share, down 6.3%. So far today, the company's volume is 4.8 million shares.

Sturm, Ruger (NYSE:RGR) has risen 5.4% to hit a current price of $42.81 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 900,426 shares, lighter than yesterday's volume of three million shares.

Honda Motor Co., Ltd (NYSE:HMC) is currently trading at $36.18 per share, a 3.6% increase. The company's volume for the morning is 561,211 shares. This is 1.4 times the current daily average.

Increasing 3%, Delphi (NYSE:DLPH) is trading at $35.47 per share. The company's volume is currently 6.4 million shares for the day, two times the average volume over the last three months.

Jarden (NYSE:JAH) is at $51.64 per share after an increase of 2.6%. So far today, 403,822 shares have changed hands.

Superior Industries International (NYSE:SUP) has fallen 2.4% and is currently trading at $19.15 per share. The company's volume is currently 22,753 shares for the day, while it was 118,761 shares yesterday.

The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. 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.