Day Traders Diary
8/18/11
U.S. stocks opened sharply lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 300 points, on worries about Europe and the global economy coming under pressure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 310 points to 11,100. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 37 points to 1,156. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 90 points to 2,420. The volatility is back. Whether they are right or not, investors are pricing in a recession if not a global recession. The recent earnings are not helping things either. NetApp is trading down 18% following earnings. International Rectifier is down 12%, JDSU is down 10%, Buckle is down 5%, Checkpoint Software is down 6%,JM Smuckers and Sears are both down 6%, following earnings. A couple of stocks are higher including Synopsys, Hott Topic, Limited, and Hot Topic. Through the first hour the averages quickly pushed lower. The Dow fell a quick 500 points with the Nasdaq dropping 125 points thanks in part to a weak manufacturing number. Things are going from bad to worse. Noble Energy is trading down 4% after announcing $3.4 billion joint venture with Consol to develop shale. Through the morning the Dow bounced 100 points off the lows, but that's not saying much. Before the lunch hour, Hewlett Packard made news. The stock went halted on news they are close to buying an enterprise firm and planning on spinning off their PC unit. When the stock started trading once again, it initially rallied into the green only to sell off once again. At least we had a Dow stock in the green for a few minutes. During the lunch hour the averages remained weak with the Dow down 400 points and the Nasdaq down over 100 points. Every modest bounce is met by more selling. Not a good sign. In the afternoon the averages moved sideways waiting for that last hour of volatility. The HP fireworks continued with the company prematurely releasing earnings and having to go halted for a second time. What a mess. In the last hour the selling accelerated only to rebound into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 419 points, or 3.7%, to 10,990, led by more than 6% drops in Alcoa, and Bank of America. The S&P 500 fell 53 points, or 4.5%, to 1,140. The Nasdaq Composite lost 131 points, or 5.2%, to 2,380.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.