An electronic display shows Dow Jones Industrial Average numbers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange just after the closing bell on August 11, 2011. US stocks made another dramatic comeback after a stunning fall on Thursday, in another day of extreme volatility in markets around the world. The Dow Jones Industrial Average battled back from Wednesday’s 520-point loss with a 3.94 percent gain, adding 422.84 points to close at 11,142.78. The broader S&P 500 rebounded 4.63 percent, up 51.87 points to 1,172.63, while the Nasdaq gained 111.63 points, or 4.69 percent, to 2,492.68. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)
Photo: STAN HONDA/2011 AFP
Many sectors of the economy are still struggling, but Hollywood studios are sure doing fine. Comcast (which now owns NBC Universal) saw its stock rise by 52 percent since the end of last year, and Walt Disney was up nearly 40 percent. Meanwhile News Corp. (parent company of Fox and FX) was up 37.4 percent and CBS (lucky owner of the freakishly profitable Two and a Half Men franchise) saw a 35.2% stock uptick. Apparently, investors are super excited about new Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon distribution and business models, The Hollywood Reporter discovered. The one outlier: Sony, whose movie and entertainment divisions were unable to offset large losses in its tech divisions, causing its stock to plummet 35.1%.