UnitedHealth and More Big Movers in Financial on January 3, 2013

The morning has been quiet for the market. The Nasdaq is unchanged; the S&P 500 has moved little; and the Dow has been relatively flat. 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.

On a quiet day for the market overall so far, the Financial sector (XLF) has slipped 0.1% and its biggest movers are currently:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Health Net (NYSE:HNT)	$1.98 billion	+4.8%
Aflac (NYSE:AFL)	$25.35 billion	-3.2%
A.F.P Provida SA (NYSE:PVD)	$2.3 billion	+3%
UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH)	$55.71 billion	-2.9%
WellPoint (NYSE:WLP)	$18.5 billion	-2.6%
Alliance Data (NYSE:ADS)	$7.43 billion	+1.5%
Enstar (Nasdaq:ESGR)	$1.99 billion	-1.5%

Broker Summary: Fidelity Online Brokerage

After rising 4.8%, Health Net (NYSE:HNT) is currently trading at a share price of $25.53. With 506,180 shares changing hands so far today, the company's volume is 0.8 times its current three-month average.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) has decreased to $52.33 per share, a 3.2% fall. The company's volume is currently 1.9 million shares. This is on pace to reach yesterday's trading volume of four million shares.

A.F.P Provida SA (NYSE:PVD) is up 3% to reach a current price of $107.45 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 7,787 shares, in line with the current daily average.

Slipping 2.9%, UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) is currently trading at $52.95 per share. So far today, 4.9 million shares have changed hands.

Currently trading at $59.35 per share, WellPoint (NYSE:WLP) has fallen 2.6%. The company's volume for the day so far is 1.4 million shares, 0.7 times the current three-month average.

Rising 1.5%, Alliance Data (NYSE:ADS) is currently trading at $151.32 per share. So far today, the company's volume is 131,799 shares. This is on pace to fall short of yesterday's volume of 574,639 shares.

At $118, Enstar (Nasdaq:ESGR) has slipped 1.5%. So far today, the company's volume is 6,084 shares, 0.1 times the current daily average.

The Bottom Line The nature of the market is such that stocks will have good days and bad days. 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.