Editor's note: Due to Labor Day, percent weekly changes for all stocks are from Monday, Aug. 25 to Friday, Aug. 29.
Both Louisiana and the economy benefited from the limited impact of Hurricane Gustav this week. The price per barrel of light sweet crude oil tumbled nearly $10 at one point over the weekend as Gustav, which weakened to a tropical depression, didn't cause the damage to oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico as many had feared.
The sharp drop in oil prices led to a broad decline in the commodities complex, as measured by the benchmark Reuters/Jefferies CRB index, which, in turn, lead to an increase in all three stock indices.
The local stock index saw its greatest increase in over a month, rising 6.28 percent to 536.5; the Dow increased 1.32 percent to 11,545.63; while the Nasdaq jumped 1.6 percent to land at 2,402.11. The price per barrel of oil slipped 3.9 percent to $108.70.
In direct response to the oil price drop, both Delta and United Airlines saw sharp increases, 20.73 and 19.47 percent, respectively. General Motors Corp., the biggest U.S. automaker, advanced 71 cents to $10.71, and the Dow Jones Transportation Average of 20 shipping companies, railroads and airlines advanced 1.5 percent for its steepest gain since July.
In addition to the local airline stocks that saw strong increases, Starwood Hotels' stock responded to last week's 4.77 percent decrease with a 7.75 percent increase this week. The rise came after Starwood's announcement that the hotel chain's loyalty program, Starwood Preferred Guest, would launch SPG Flights. The new program, which is a hotel industry first, allows members to book flights on hundreds of domestic and international airlines with absolutely no blackout dates.
Comcast Corp., despite an announcement that it would limit the amount of data that subscribers can download each month, saw a 4.47 percent gain. Zions Bancorporation, parent company to Vectra, saw the largest increase, however, with a 20.82 percent gain over last week. Zions, along with several other regional banks across the country, saw major increases this week after brokerage firm Fox-Pitt Kelton upgraded the stock from "in-line" to "outperform." Zions Bancorporation stock has been showing support around $24.75 and resistance in the $28.45 range. Technical indicators for the stock are bearish, with the S&P giving it a strong sell rating.
