Aluminum giant Alcoa just reported a 27% surge in revenue and a more than twofold jump in its bottom line for the second quarter. A major aluminum company covers a lot of major sectors and thus gives us insight into the broader economy. This makes it a worthwhile stock to delve into.

People watch stocks for different reasons -- they're waiting for a dip in price, watching for a specific catalyst, gathering all the news and information that might affect stocks they already own, or considering a sell. Regardless of their motivation, we can better understand market sentiment by seeing who's watching what.

Depending on whom you ask, the past week has either been a major hit to America's domestic and labor markets, or a huge step forward in environmental protection. And it's not obvious who is on which side of the argument.