After falling 1.3% yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  ) closed the week down 1.4%. The red ink was thickest for these three names:

Caterpillar and Bank of America plunged after yesterday’s mediocre jobs report. When jobs are scarce and employers stingy on wages, it becomes harder to pay off household and consumer debt. Two-thirds of B of A’s loans — $600 billion — fall into these categories, so the bank should have a strong interest in full employment. Though JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) , which plunged 3.7% this week, has more extensive trading and investment banking operations than B of A, it of course has quite a bit of exposure to household and consumer debt, too.

It’s a similar worry for Caterpillar. It’s hard to get construction unless we see paychecks that allow consumers to buy things, or government spending picks up.

Unfortunately for Cat, unprecedented budget cutbacks — particularly at the state and local level — continue to decimate transportation construction. Transportation was one of the only sectors of the economy to actually lose jobs after state and local spending cuts subtracted 0.14 points from GDP. And you don’t ordinarily associate tech stocks with economic cyclicality, but Cicso does depend on government contracts for a big part of its business. The company reports quarterly earnings next Wednesday, so we’ll find out soon enough.

One mediocre jobs report doesn’t spell doom, but investors are clearly afraid of a three-peat to the past couple of years, where the recovery seemed strong but ultimately failed to pick up enough steam.

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The stock market has been tenacious lately, and today was no exception. After dropping sharply in the morning after weak economic data raised some concerns about the sustainability of the recovery, stocks bounced back in dramatic fashion, with the Nasdaq Composite actually finishing in positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrials (INDEX: ^DJI  ) weren’t quite as lucky, but the average still finished with a loss of just 11 points to close at 13,269 after having been down by as much as 85 points earlier in the day.

A few stocks rallied even more strongly. Let’s take a closer look at three of the Dow’s gainers today.

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC  ) , up 0.8%
Intel has been riding high, with the stock adding to the eight-year high it hit yesterday. But the semiconductor company isn’t resting on its success.

Today, Intel’s purchase of computing-interconnect technology from Cray (Nasdaq: CRAY  ) , initially announced last week, went through. Intel sees the move helping to add to its high-performance computing portfolio, with both intellectual property and human capital providing value. Time will tell, but as Intel tries to provide more integrated solutions for its customer base, maximizing quality will be an important way the company can differentiate itself from its competitors.

Home Depot (NYSE: HD  ) , up 0.7%
Speaking of highs, Home Depot did Intel one better, setting another 11-year high today. Hope about an improving economy has helped push the stock up, but part of Home Depot’s success has been adapting to tough conditions.

Whether homeowners are buying new properties or renovating old ones, Home Depot has found ways to profit from them. If remodeling trends continue and new home sales pick up, then the home-improvement retailer could find the sweet spot it’s been seeking for years. Shares are already richly valued, but the growth potential may well justify the stock’s price.

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) , up 0.6%
P&G gave some of its customers good news today by releasing a portable chewable tablet version of its Pepto-Bismol, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that the stock probably didn’t rise because of it.

But the new product gives a good example of how P&G is positioned to perform well in the future. The company does a great job identifying customer needs, and with a huge and growing population in overseas markets seeing P&G products on an increasingly frequent basis, innovation will be a key part of the consumer giant’s success.

In the home stretch
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