The stock market got off to a slow start for the week, with modest losses on Monday that amounted to just a small fraction of a percent for major benchmarks. Investors continued to wrestle with big-picture issues on the macroeconomic and geopolitical fronts, and with earnings season just about to start, many market participants are eager to see signs of whether the economy will be able to stay out of recession. Even with the overall lack of direction for the broader indexes, however, some stocks saw nice moves higher. PG&E (NYSE: PCG), Livongo Health (NASDAQ: LVGO), and RingCentral (NYSE: RNG) were among the top performers. Here's why they did so well.
Shares of PG&E climbed 6%, adding to Friday's gains as the electric utility managed to overcome some weather-related challenges. Over the weekend, the company proactively turned off power for portions of three counties in California, and patrols began yesterday looking to see what impacts there were to the power lines and poles in the area. Investors have watched PG&E's bankruptcy proceedings closely, and a lawsuit filed last week suggested that shareholders might end up losing less of their eventual recovery to legal fees. There's still a long way to go, but some like the steps that PG&E is taking to protect customers and handle risk before it turns into huge, damaging events.
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