The Walt Disney Company (DIS) May Help End Dow’s Record Run: Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)

It’s a quiet day on the economic front, giving investors little reason to move markets sharply higher or lower. As of 3:20 p.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up a minuscule 0.02%, while the S&P 500 is down just 0.21%. On a company level, the fireworks are a bit brighter. Ten of the Dow’s 30 components have moved more than 1% today; here are the highlights.

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has dropped 1% today after the company announced a change in strategy for Lucasfilm’s Star Wars TV series. Star Wars: The Clone Wars will no longer make new episodes for Cartoon Network, but beyond that, details are sparse. The company will produce some sort of Star Wars content “set in a time period previously untouched” but didn’t say when or where the content would appear. Conventional wisdom would say The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) XD has a shot, and we’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is the Dow’s biggest loser with a 1.7% drop today. Industrials are trading lower today, although there’s little news driving the move south. The stock is one of the few Dow components that hasn’t participated in the 2013 rally, essentially trading flat for the year. A disappointing fourth quarter and worry over economic growth both in China and at home have held the stock back recently.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is among the stocks bucking the negative trend in a big way, climbing 3.1% today. The company got the OK to continue a large trial of Vytorin, a cholesterol drug that would compete with Pfizer’s Lipitor. Final results won’t be in until late next year, but with a huge market potential, this is a big step forward for the drug.

The article Disney May Help End Dow’s Record Run originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Travis Hoium.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw. The Motley Fool recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of Walt Disney.

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