Day Traders Diary
7/15/11
U.S. stocks open higher thanks to better than expected earnings from Google and a number of M&A deals. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46 points to 12,483. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 7 points to 1,316. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 22 points to 2,784. On the earnings front, Google is up a whopping 11% thanks to strong earnings and a plethora of upgrades. Unfortunately, Google's good news is not translating to other tech stocks. Apple is higher on an upgrade, but less than a percent. Broadcom and Marvell are unchanged on downgrades. Cypress Semi is modestly lower on a downgrade. Many of the chips have struggled of late. Intel is higher, but by less than a percent. On the M&A front, Clorox is up 7% thanks to a takeover off from Carl Icahn. In the energy space, Petrohawk Energy is up 60% after agreeing to be taken over by BHP Billiton. Rival, Chesapeake Energy is up 6% on an upgrade. Conoco Phillips, Freeport McMoran, Transocean, and Nobel Corp are higher on upgrades. In the financial space, Citigroup is higher following earnings. Webster Financial and Arrow Financial are modestly higher on earnings. JPM Morgan is higher on an upgrade and strong earnings yesterday. Through the first hour the averages perform well only to succumb to profit-taking once again. The financials were the first sector to sell off with the Dow falling into the red. The techs and commodities are holding up. Through the morning and into the afternoon more of the same. Google is leading the techs. The commodities look good and that's about it. By the middle of the afternoon, the Dow had fallen 40 points only to rebound in the last hour. The financials remain the weak link. Bank of America made a new 52 week low. The commodities and techs remain strong. Apple jumped 2% in the last hour closing at a new 52 week and all time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 42 points to 12,479 led by a 1.7% rise in Caterpillar. The S&P 500 gained 7 points to 1,316 led by a 12% rise in Google, wowing investors with earnings. The Nasdaq Composite added 27 points, or 1%, to 2,789. For the week, the Dow lost 1.4%, the S&P 500 fell 2.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.5%.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.