The Nasdaq is trading down 0.6%, the S&P 500 remains relatively unchanged and the Dow has moved up 0.1% so far today. Formerly run as a private organization, the NYSE became a public entity in 2005 following the acquisition of electronic trading exchange Archipelago.

The biggest movers traded on the NYSE so far are:

Company Market Cap Percentage Change
Barnes Group (NYSE:B) $1.33 billion -13.2%
Plains Exploration & Production (NYSE:PXP) $5.2 billion -8.5%
Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) $3.72 billion +4.2%
Polaris Industries (NYSE:PII) $5.38 billion +3.5%
Holly Energy Partners (NYSE:HEP) $2.03 billion +2.6%
PPG (NYSE:PPG) $17.28 billion +2.6%

Broker Summary: Fidelity Online Brokerage

Shares of Barnes Group (NYSE:B) are currently trading at $24.72, a steep decline of 13.2%. The company's volume is currently 23,199 shares for the day, more than yesterday's 20,003 shares. Volume is also used as a secondary indicator to help confirm what the price movement is suggesting. In making a decision about a potential or existing investment, valuation ratios are useful as a basis for seeing whether the stock price is too high, reasonable, or a bargain. Perhaps one of the most widely-used stock analysis tools is the price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E. Compared to the industry average of 13.6, B's P/E ratio of 19.4 is quite high. Generally speaking, the higher the P/E ratio, the higher the market expectations for a company's future performance. A high P/E ratio indicates a stock that is expensive, while a low P/E ratio indicates a stock that is cheap. SEE: Understanding The P/E Ratio

Plains Exploration & Production (NYSE:PXP) has decreased to $36.91 per share, a 8.5% fall. The company's volume for the day so far is 9.5 million shares. This is 5.9 times its average volume over the past three months. When a stock price moves up or down, watching the volume is a good way of identifying how significant that shift is. When estimating the value of a particular investment, valuation ratios provide a good basis for assessing the value of an individual stock. Using price/earnings ratios (P/E ratios) does not give an indication of whether or not an individual company's ratio is reasonable, a shortcoming that can be corrected by using the price/earnings to growth ratio (PEG ratio). PEG ratio for PXP is 6.07. Because of the adjustment for earnings growth rate, the PEG ratio is somewhat more useful than many formulas for comparing companies in different industries.

Rising 4.2%, Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) is currently trading at $84.57 per share. The company's volume for the day so far is 695,615 shares. A stock's volume conveys how excited investors are about it. Looking at a company's valuation ratios is a good way of getting a basic idea as to its value as an investment. The debt ratio is calculated by dividing total liabilities by total assets. MLM has a debt ratio of 56.1%. However, one thing to note with this ratio: it isn't a pure measure of a company's debt (or indebtedness), as it also includes operational liabilities, such as accounts payable and taxes payable.

So far today, the company's volume is 767,189 shares, 1.1 times its current daily average. If a stock is trading on low volume, then there is not much interest in the stock. On the other hand, if a stock is trading on high volume, then there is a lot of interest in the stock. Valuation ratios allow the investor to make a quick determination as to a company's investment value. The dividend yield is measured by taking the annual dividends per share and dividing that number by the stock price. RKT has a low dividend yield of 1.1%. This may indicate that the company's stock is overpriced. For income-oriented investors such as retirees, a stock with a high dividend yield may be more attractive than a stock with a low dividend yield. SEE: Dividend Yield For The Downturn

After an increase of 3.5%, Polaris Industries (NYSE:PII) has reached a current price of $81.29. So far today, 528,731 shares of the company's stock have changed hands. If a stock price makes a big move up or down, volume lets us know the significance of that move. A company's value as an investment is more easily estimated using valuation ratios such as the price to earnings (P/E) ratio, the price to earnings growth (PEG) ratio, the price to sales (P/S) ratio, the price to book (P/B) ratio, and the dividend yield. A price/sales ratio is derived by dividing stock market price by company sales. PII's P/S ratio of 1.67 is on the high side. In young companies, a high P/S ratio is a sign of sales growth that is expected to turn into earnings and cash flow. It is important to keep in mind when looking at the P/S ratio that just because a company is generating revenues, this does not mean that the company is profitable, and in the long run, profits drive stock prices.

Increasing 2.6%, Holly Energy Partners (NYSE:HEP) is trading at $73.25 per share. At 26,120 shares, the company's volume so far today is consistent with its average over the last three months. In technical analysis, trading volume is used to determine the strength of a market indicator. Understanding investment valuation ratios allows an investor to assess the true value of an individual stock. The price/book value ratio is one of the more common methods of determining whether a stock is fairly valued. HEP's stock is trading for more than its book value with a P/B ratio of 6.65. This high share price relative to asset value is likely to indicate that the company has been earning a very high return on its assets. Users need to be careful when applying this ratio though, as it is more useful for industrial companies that have a lot of tangible assets than it is for technology or consumer product companies that may not have much in the way of hard assets. SEE: How Buybacks Warps The Price-To-Book Ratio

PPG (NYSE:PPG) is at $116.06 per share after an increase of 2.6%. So far today, 647,640 shares have changed hands. Volume is an important indicator in technical analysis as it is used to measure the worth of a market move. If the markets have made a strong price move either up or down the perceived strength of that move depends on the volume for that period. The higher the volume during that price move the more significant the move. Investors can make use of valuation ratios to estimate whether a stock is fairly valued. A company's capitalization (not to be confused with its market capitalization) is the term used to describe the makeup of a company's permanent or long-term capital, which consists of both long-term debt and shareholders' equity. PPG's capitalization ratio of 100% is relatively high. If the company is a company is in a highly competitive business and hobbled by high debt, it will find its competitors taking advantage of its problems to grab more market share. The capitalization ratio is one of the more meaningful debt ratios because it focuses on the relationship of debt liabilities as a component of a company's total capital base, which is the capital raised by shareholders and lenders.


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