James Hardie Industries SE Among Capital Goods' Biggest Movers on November 13, 2012

The Nasdaq has increased 0.2%, the S&P 500 is trading up 0.6% and the Dow is up 0.5% on a good day for the market so far. The capital goods sector is the category of stocks related to the manufacture or distribution of goods. The sector is diverse, containing companies that manufacture machinery used to create capital goods, electrical equipment, aerospace and defense, engineering and construction projects. It is also referred to as the "industrials sector". Performance in the capital goods sector is sensitive to fluctuations in the business cycle. Because it relies heavily on manufacturing, the sector does well when the economy is booming or expanding. As economic conditions worsen, the demand for capital goods drops off, usually lowering the prices of stocks in the sector.

The Capital Goods sector (XLI) is up 0.6%, outperforming the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector so far are:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
AECOM (NYSE:ACM)	$2.46 billion	-10.8%
US Silica Holdings (NYSE:SLCA)	$795.9 million	-9.4%
SPX (NYSE:SPW)	$3.34 billion	+2.5%
James Hardie Industries SE (NYSE:JHX)	$4.24 billion	-2%
China Yuchai (NYSE:CYD)	$537 million	-1.9%
Nordson (Nasdaq:NDSN)	$3.85 billion	+1.9%
Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI)	$3.48 billion	+1.7%

Broker Summary: E-Trade Financial

After a precipitous drop of 10.8%, AECOM (NYSE:ACM) is now trading at a share price of $19.42. The company's volume for the day so far is 1.5 million shares.

At $13.64, US Silica Holdings (NYSE:SLCA) has slipped 9.4%. The company's volume is currently 953,424 shares for the day, 1.9 times the average daily volume.

SPX (NYSE:SPW) has increased to a share price of $67.45, a 2.5% rise. So far today, the company's volume is 150,314 shares.

James Hardie Industries SE (NYSE:JHX) is trading at $47.46 per share, down 2%. The company's volume is currently 4,125 shares for the day, 0.6 times the average volume over the last three months.

China Yuchai (NYSE:CYD) is down 1.9% to reach $14.13 per share. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 19,461 shares.

Increasing 1.9%, Nordson (Nasdaq:NDSN) is trading at $61.27 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 50,143 shares, 0.2 times the average daily volume.

After rising 1.7%, Valmont Industries (NYSE:VMI) is currently trading at a share price of $132.93. The company is trading at a volume of 49,819 shares. At this rate, trading activity will likely be down from yesterday when 197,600 shares changed hands.

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.