Visa and Other Big Movers In Financial on November 1, 2012

It's been a good morning for the market. The Nasdaq is trading up 1.3%; the S&P 500 has moved up 1%; and the Dow has increased 1.2%. 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.

The Financial sector (XLF) is up 1%, underperforming the market overall. The biggest movers in the sector are currently:

Company	Market Cap	Percentage Change
Greenlight Capital (Nasdaq:GLRE)	$936.4 million	-4.5%
Virtus Investment Partners (Nasdaq:VRTS)	$750.6 million	+4.3%
Visa (NYSE:V)	$112.56 billion	+3%
Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE:AMG)	$6.5 billion	+2.9%
Allied World Assurance Co (NYSE:AWH)	$2.87 billion	+2.7%
MasterCard (NYSE:MA)	$55.17 billion	+2.7%
Franklin (NYSE:BEN)	$27.17 billion	+2.5%

Broker Summary: Charles Schwab Online Brokerage

After a decline of 4.5%, Greenlight Capital (Nasdaq:GLRE) has hit a share price of $24.38. The company's volume for the day so far is 216,011 shares.

After rising 4.3%, Virtus Investment Partners (Nasdaq:VRTS) is currently trading at a share price of $99.97. With 30,191 shares changing hands so far today, the company's volume is 1.1 times its current three-month average.

Visa (NYSE:V) is at $142.88 per share after an increase of 3%. So far today, 2.6 million shares of the company's stock have changed hands.

Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE:AMG) has risen 2.9% and is currently trading at $130.19 per share. The company's volume is currently 213,061 shares for the day, 0.8 times the average daily volume.

Allied World Assurance Co (NYSE:AWH) has risen 2.7% to hit a current price of $82.46 per share. This morning, the company is trading a volume of 85,925 shares.

After an increase of 2.7%, MasterCard (NYSE:MA) has reached a current price of $473.20. At 439,805 shares, the company's volume so far today is consistent with its average over the last three months.

Franklin (NYSE:BEN) has increased to a share price of $130.96, a 2.5% rise. The company's volume for the day so far is 258,131 shares. This is on pace to fall short of yesterday's volume of 722,941 shares.

The Bottom Line On any given day, a particular stock may see positive or negative change in its share price. It is important to weigh current activity against historical performance when making any investment decisions. 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.