Sam Collins

8 Sectors for Long-term Investors

by Sam Collins   08/10/09

A better-than-expected jobs report on Friday capped the fourth-straight week of advances. And the major stock indices closed at their highest levels since November.

Financial stocks led the way, but every sector of the S&P 500 (SPX) gained. JPMorgan (JPM) rose 4%, American Express (AXP) gained 4.4%, and AIG (AIG) rose more than 20% after posting its first profit since 2007.

Homebuilders finished the day 7.2% higher. Beazer Homes (BZH) reported a lower loss than expected and the stock gained more than 15%. Pulte Homes (PHM) gained 6.4%.

Before the 8:30 a.m. jobs report, you could have cut the tension with a knife. But instead of a disappointment, the Labor Department reported that non-farm payrolls fell by 247,000 jobs in July, the smallest decline since August 2008, and below the expected fall of 275,000. The unemployment rate dropped 0.1% to 9.4%.

At Friday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 114 points to 9,370, the S&P 500 gained 13 points to 1,010, and the Nasdaq (NASD) was up 27 points to 2,000.

The NYSE traded 1.4 billion shares with advances ahead of decliners by 4-to-1. On the Nasdaq, 692 million shares crossed with advancers ahead by 9-to-4.

For the week, the Dow gained 2.2%, the S&P 500 was up 2.3%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.1%.

September crude oil futures fell $1.01 to $70.93 a barrel, as a rising U.S. dollar offset the upbeat jobs report. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) fell 6 cents to $50.83.