As we mentioned yesterday, some bad news on the housing front knocked U.S. markets down a notch. Today, investors were either determined to find good deals or to play an active role in economic recovery. This activity sent The Dow Jones Industrial Average up 19.61 points to 10,060.06. The Nasdaq was up 17.78 points to 2,141.54 and the S&P 500 rose 3.46 points to 1,055.33.
Ironically, even in light of the housing slump, the home builder Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE: TOL) announced that they managed to make a net income of $27.3 million during the third quarter of 2010. This is substantially less than the $472.3 million net income in the same quarter of 2009, but is still impressive in light of the current market.
Possibly also helping the market out today was the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ruling to give shareholders more power to effect change in corporate boards. With the new ruling, shareholders who own 3 percent or more of a company’s stock for 3 or more years can nominate directors. To read the full news release about the new rule, visit the SEC’s website.
European and Asian markets were down.
Relevant stocks: American Realty Investors Inc (NYSE: ARL), Brookfield Properties Corp (NYSE: BPO) , Hilltop Holdings Inc (NYSE: HTH).
