2012's Dow Winners and Losers in Focus

Traders and investors are busy pouring over last year's Dow 30 winners and losers to get a sense of what's in store for 2013. Often times Dow laggards lead the following year, while winners lag.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 2012 up 7.26 percent for the 4th straight year of annual gains. The biggest contributor to that gain was Home Depot (NYSE: HD), which added 151.31 of the total 886.58 in index points gained on the year. McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), after a strong 2011, was the weakest performer, contributing to a loss of 91.3 index points.

Rounding out the top five performers in the Dow 30 were: Travelers Cos. Inc. (NYSE: TRV) (+96.91 index points), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) (+93.23 index points), 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) (+84.28 index points), and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) (+82.16 index points).

In addition to McDonald's, the top five Dow index point losers were Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) (-87.85 index points), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) (-28.33 index points), Unitedhealth (NYSE: UNH) (-14.90 index points), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) (-7.47 index points).

By industry, Financials led the way and was one of seven DJIA industries with aggregate point gains during 2012. Technology was the worst performer and one of only two industries (along with Basic Materials) to end the year having taken points off the DJIA.

While not a huge Dow index point contributor, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was the top performing stock in percentage terms - adding 110 percent. It added 46.23 index points in 2012, versus contributing to a loss of 58.88 index points in 2011.

Also See: Meet Your 2013 Dogs of the Dow

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