Day Traders Diary
5/20/11
U.S. stock indexes opened lower on Friday, with Wall Street retreating after a two-day climb as retailers Gap and Aeropostale lowered 2011 forecasts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23 points to 12,581. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 2 points to 1,340. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 3 points to 2,819. Gap and Aeropostale are both down over 17% dragging the sector with it. Ann Taylor is down 4% even though earnings and their outlook were strong. Dollar Tree and Tyson Foods are lower even though both were upgraded. At least three retailers are bucking the trend Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Foot Locker, and Hibbett Sports thanks to strong earnings. Red Robin and Foot Locker are both up over 10%. In the tech space things are mixed. Aruba Networks, Autodesk, and Intuit are lower following earnings. Salesforce.com is jumping 8% after beating estimates. Akamai is up 6% on insider buying. Chinese Internet commerce company, Dangdang is jumping on earnings. Intel was upgraded, but the stock is lower. Apple and Google are lower along with most blue chip stocks. The commodities are accelerating their losses as money continues to rotate out of that sector. Patriot Coal was upgraded, but the stock is lower. The financials continue to stumble. Donaldson is modestly higher following earnings. American Express is modestly lower even though it was upgraded. Through the morning the averages accelerated to the downside with the Dow dropping 100 points and the Nasdaq declining 25 points. The diamond of the day goes to Barnes & Noble up 30% after receiving a takeover offer. Fortune Brands is down a percent even though they are selling their golf division. In the afternoon the averages slowly recovering almost getting back to the unchanged level before selling back off in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 93 points led by a 2.5% drop in Alcoa. The S&P 500 fell 10 points to 1,333, with a 1.5% decline in financial stocks leading losses for all 10 subsectors. Goldman Sachs dropped over 3% on concerns of a federal investigation. The Nasdaq Composite lost 19 points to 2,803. For the week, the Dow lost 0.7%, the S&P 500 fell 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.9%.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.