Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ), and How The Dogs of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) Beat Their Index This Week

The other piece of news this week was weaker-than-expected retail sales. March saw retail sales drop 0.4%m the worst in nine months and down from February’s 1% growth. With the unemployment rate at 7.6%, a weak jobs market, and poor retail sales, I expect the Federal Reserve to stick with its stated policy moving forward, which should continue to juice asset prices.

Movers and shakers
The biggest mover upward this past week among the Dogs of the Dow was Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), rising 5.40%. On Thursday, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced that the FDA designated its palbociclib treatment for breast cancer as a breakthrough drug. That designation should put it on the fast track for development and FDA review.

The biggest mover down this past week was Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), which fell 4.87%. Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) and other tech stocks plummeted after research firm IDC reported that in the first quarter of 2013, worldwide PC shipments dropped 14% from the year before. IDC attributed the decline to the rise in tablets and smartphones, as well as consumers’ dismissal of Windows 8 so far. The PC market’s woes gives credence to Goldman Sachs‘ call that Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) stock had risen too high given the long-term nature of turnarounds and the challenges PC manufacturers are facing.

The article The Dogs of the Dow Beat Their Index This Week originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Dan Dzombak.

Dan Dzombak has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Goldman Sachs, and McDonald’s and owns shares of General Electric, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, and McDonald’s.

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