October 20, 2014: Markets opened lower on Monday but the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite pushed into the green shortly after the opening bell. The DJIA stayed south of the line for most of the day, only barely flirting with the break even line in the late afternoon. Shortly before the closing bell the DJIA traded up 0.06% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.90%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded up 1.29%.

The Dow 30 stock posting the largest daily loss ahead of the close today was International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) which traded down 7.19% at $168.99. The stock’s 52-week range is $165.25 to $199.21, and the low was set today. The tech giant had a poor earnings report, rescinded its guidance, and had to pay some to take its chip-making foundry off its hands. The company’s volume was about 6-times the daily average of around 3.2 million shares.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) traded down 1.48% at $22.91. The stock’s 52-week range is $20.22 to $26.08. Trading volume was about equal to the daily average of around 26.7 million shares. Cisco was one of 5 tech stocks we identified as having gotten a nasty blow from the drop in IBM stock.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded down 1.0% at $94.07 in a 52-week range of $81.87 to $111.46. Volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 5 million shares. The company had no specific news today.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) traded lower by 0.55% at $111.20. The stock’s 52-week range is $106.65 to $135.10. Volume was about 15% higher than the daily average of around 6 million shares. The company had no news today.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 5 are set to close lower today and 25 are on track to close higher. The weight IBM carries is the primary reason that just this handful of stocks can drag the DJIA down, but both Caterpillar and Chevron are also heavily weighted.

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