Johnson Controls and Other Big Movers In Consumer Cyclical on October 10, 2012

The Nasdaq remains relatively unchanged, the S&P 500 is trading down 0.2% and the Dow has slipped 0.5% 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.

While the market overall has shown little change, the Consumer Cyclical sector (XLY) is up 0.1% and its current biggest movers are:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
True Religion Apparel (Nasdaq:TRLG)	$541.8 million	+21.7%
Helen of (Nasdaq:HELE)	$1.01 billion	-10.3%
WABCO Holdings (NYSE:WBC)	$3.83 billion	-4%
Smith (Nasdaq:SWHC)	$662.2 million	+3.4%
BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA)	$7.95 billion	-3.1%
Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM)	$4.4 billion	+2.7%
Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI)	$18.36 billion	-2.6%

Broker Summary: Fidelity Online Brokerage

True Religion Apparel (Nasdaq:TRLG) rose a significant 21.7% to reach $25.56 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is five million shares, 19.4 times its average over the past three months. In technical analysis, trading volume is used to determine the strength of a market indicator.

Helen of (Nasdaq:HELE) is currently trading at $28.65 per share, after a steep drop of 10.3%. The company's volume for the morning is 321,660 shares. This is 3.2 times its current daily average. Volume is also used as a secondary indicator to help confirm what the price movement is suggesting.

WABCO Holdings (NYSE:WBC) is down 4% to reach $57.54 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 701,679 shares, whereas yesterday, volume was only 485,214 shares. Volume indicates the level of interest that investors have in a company at its current price.

Smith (Nasdaq:SWHC) has increased to a share price of $10.45, a 3.4% rise. So far today, the company's volume is 669,468 shares. When a stock price moves up or down, watching the volume is a good way of identifying how significant that shift is.

BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA) is trading at $67.28 per share, down 3.1%. The company's volume is currently 832,539 shares for the day, 0.7 times the average volume over the last three months. The trading volume for a stock indicates the level of investor interest.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) has risen 2.7% to hit a current price of $45.96 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is one million shares. This is 0.8 times its average daily volume. As a stock moves up or down, it is important to pay attention to the trading volume. This indicates the level of interest: the higher the volume, the more the interest.

After a decline of 2.6%, Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI) has hit a share price of $26.16. The company's volume is currently 2.7 million shares for the day,. Volume is an important indicator because it indicates how significant a price shift is.

The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. However, these fundamental metrics must be analyzed with historic data, industry information in addition to firm specific financial statements.