May 19, 2014: Markets opened lower on Monday but look to close the day on the upside, even if just barely. There was no economic news of note today, no major earnings results, and very little trading action. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded up 0.14%, the S&P 500 was up 0.40%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 89%.

One DJIA heavyweight, The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) traded up 0.40% at $131.33 just before the closing bell. The company’s annual investor day is scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday, and anticipation abounds surrounding CEO JIm McNerney who reaches the company’s mandatory retirement age of 65 later this year.. Volume totaled about less than 200,000 shares compared with a daily average of around 4 million.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) added 0.75% to trade at $157.60 in a 52-week range of $148.71 to $181.13. There was no news on the company, and like Boeing, nobody wanted to play today. Share volume was around 200,000 shares traded against a daily average of 3.3 million shares.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) traded up 0.72% at $29.31 in a 52-week range of $27.12 to $32.96. Volume was about 85% below the daily average of nearly 31 million shares. British drugmaker AstraZeneca rejected Pfizer’s last offer and it looks like the U.S. company is not interested in bidding any higher.

3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) traded up 0.43% at $141.74 today. As with the other stocks, there was no news and volume was lacking, but the stock’s high share price helped boost the DJIA to a positive finish. Share volume was only about 12% of the daily average of around 2.7 million shares traded.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 19 looked to close higher today while 11 were on their way to a lower finish.

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