Day Traders Diary

12/19/08

The major averages received a jolt before the open after the White House agreed to loan the ailing auto industry $17.4 billion in loans to get them into the new year and to the next administration. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 106 points to 8,711. The S&P 500 gained 11 points to 896, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 29 points to 1,581. GM and Ford are modestly higher on the government loan. One sector not participating in the rally is the financials. S&P downgraded the debt rating on the eleven largest banks. M&T Bank is down 3% after agreeing to acquire Provident Bank for $401 million. The commodities are performing well except for the fertilizers. Potash is down 6% after lowering estimates. The techs in general are performing well thanks to solid earnings at Research in Motion and Oracle. Both stocks are up over 6%. Jabil Circuit, Lam Research, and Palm reported dismal earnings, but both stocks are higher. LSI Logic, Microsoft, and Google were downgraded, however, both are higher. Restaurant
stocks, Ruby Tuesday will take a charge in the fourth quarter and Dardens missed estimates, yet both are higher. Dardens is up 13%. After the first hour the averages pushed higher. Even the financials are trying to move into the green. Entering the lunch hour the rally started to fizzle. The management at the automakers are thanking the President while the unions are crying foul and expect President Obama to reverse some of the requirement. What planet do they live on? The financials are back in the red. In the afternoon the averages bounced back into the green, but not by much. With a winter storm hitting the northeast, many traders may leave early. Entering the last hour the averages were unchanged. Volatility has dried up. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 25 points at 8,579, down 0.6% for the week. The S&P 500 climbed 2 points to end at 887 and up 0.9% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite rose 11 points to 1,564, giving it a 1.5% gain on the week.

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