Day Traders Diary

5/16/11

U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday thanks to disappointing economic data and an embarrassing arrest of the managing director of the International Monetary Fund organization. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26 points to 12,571. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 2 points to 1,335. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 8 points to 2,819. A quiet day for news. On the earnings front, JC Penney is up 3% after beating estimates. Lowes and Valspar are lower following earnings. Continuing in the retail space, Ford is higher on an upgrade and GM is higher on a positive article in Barrons. American Eagle is higher on an upgrade, but Gamestop is lower even though it was upgraded. The commodity prices like oil are lower helping lift the transportation sector. Jetblue and AMR are higher on upgrades. After the open the averages started to turn around. The financials finally look good after getting hit on Friday. Mastercard is higher on an upgrade. Goldman Sachs looks good. The NYSE Euronext is sharply lower after the Nasdaq and the Ice Exchange dropped their bids for the exchange. After the open, the commodities rebounded. The fertilizers, Cliffs Natural Resources, and Freeport look good. Rowan is up 3% after selling an oil and gas unit to Joy Global. After the first hour the Dow rebounded to the unchanged level led by commodities and financials. The Nasdaq is stuck in the red as Apple and Google can't seem to get going. The chips in general are higher. Qualcomm is higher on an upgrade. Micron is higher on takeover rumors. Intel made a new high after raising their dividend once again last week. In the afternoon the rally fizzled as the financials and commodities gave up most of their gains. The techs remain weak. Through the afternoon into the last hour the selling accelerated with the Nasdaq falling 50 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 47 points at 12,548, with percentage losers led by Microsoft and Cisco Systems. The S&P 500 lost 8 points to 1,329, with a 1.5% retreat in the tech sector. The Nasdaq Composite fell 46 points, or 1.6%, to 2,782.

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