Day Traders Diary
3/7/11
The major averages open higher once again thanks in part to the oils as crude oil rallies once again above $107 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32 points to 12,199. The S&P 500 gained 3 points to 1,324, with energy stocks in the lead. The Nasdaq Composite rose 5 points to 2,790. The averages look good to start the day, but the rally was fleeting. The bulls are in denial. We can't rally with oil pushing higher. Within the first hour the averages gave up their gains led by weakness in techs. Even Apple is down over a percent. Networking equipment maker, Ciena is down 10% following earnings. The weakness in Ciena is dragging Cisco Systems down 2% to new lows for the year. Intel and Texas Instruments received positive analyst comments however, both stocks are lower. Western Digital is bucking the trend up 4% after agreeing to buy Hitachi's disk drive business for $4.3 billion. The financials are trying to hold up this morning. MBIA is up 3% on takeover chatter. PNC and Metlife are modestly higher on a positive Barrons articles. After the first hour the Dow fell 30 points while the Nasdaq declined 20 points. Only the oil drillers are still trading higher. A rare earth metal, Molycorp is up a percent on an upgrade. The CME Group is higher on an upgrade. Through the morning the averages moved lower as oil would not pull back. The Dow fell as much as 80 points before the lunch hour while the Nasdaq dropped 50 points. During the lunch hour the Dow pushed lower falling over 120 points and the Nasdaq declined 60 points. The weakness in the Nasdaq is being led by Apple, Google, and the other heavy weights. Through the afternoon the Dow improved stabilizing around the negative 100 point level. The Nasdaq hovered around the negative 50 point level. Oil closed up a dollar at $105 a barrel. Starting the last hour the averages slowly recovered. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 79 points at 12,090, led by a 2% drop in Alcoa and a 1.6% drop in Intel. The S&P 500 lost 11 points to 1,310, with materials and tech the worst hit among the S&P 500's 10 industry groups. The Nasdaq Composite lost 39 points to 2,745.All comments contained herein are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The firm does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information or make any warranties regarding results from it's usage.