October 1, 2015: Markets opened higher on Thursday after the morning report the new claims for unemployment benefits were nearly in-line with expectations and that continuing claims have reached a 15 year low. On the macro front, Japan’s central bank said “No” to more stimulus and that drove stock prices down. The markets have bounced back to near break-even. Crude oil settled at $44.74 a barrel, down about 0.8% on the day while gold did somewhat better, settling at $1,113.70, down just 0.1% for the day. Equities were headed for a mixed close shortly before the closing bell as the DJIA traded down 0.24% for the day, the S&P 500 traded up 0.01%, and the Nasdaq Composite traded down 0.05%.

The DJIA stock posting the largest daily percentage loss ahead of the close Thursday was Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) which traded down 1.98% at $25.73. The stock’s 52-week range is $22.49 to $30.31. Trading volume was about 30% lower than the daily average of around 27 million. The networking giant has been replaced in Argus’s equity income model portfolio by IBM.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) traded down 1.71% at $64.25. The stock’s 52-week range is $62.99 to $107.12. Trading volume was about 15% below the daily average of around 35 million. There was a report at Bloomberg today that short sellers are piling into Cat shares.

The Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV) traded down 1.40% at $98.14. The stock’s 52-week range is $90.83 to $110.49. Trading volume was about 20% above the daily average of around 2 million. The company today completed its acquisition of a Colombian surety company.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) traded lower by 1.52% at $42.85. The stock’s 52-week range is $138.06 to $51.73. Trading volume was about 25% above the daily average of around 15 million. The company had no specific news today.

Of the Dow 30 stocks 19 are set to close lower today and 11 are on track to close higher.

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