Day Traders Diary
9/20/11
U.S. stocks started higher on Tuesday, rebounding from the prior day's decline, even as S&P cut Italy's debt rating last night. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24 points to 11,425. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 2 points to 1,206. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 4 points to 2,617. The strength once again is attributed to the tech space. Apple is at another new all time high. The chip space continues to perform well. Arm Holdings is jumping 3% on an upgrade. Cypress Semi and Micron are higher on upgrades. Intel is also higher. Xilinx is one of the few chip related stocks trading down after lowering guidance. Netflix keeps dropping after lowering guidance last week. The stock is now down 55% since the July highs. The financials opened higher, but then sold off. Jefferies is up 2% following better than expected earnings. JP Morgan and Travelers are modestly higher on upgrades. UBS and the rest of the European banks are lower as China is limiting their trading with the region. The commodities also opened higher, but then sold off. Potash is down 2% on cautious analyst comments. Deutsche Bank made positive comments on a number of oil related stocks including Noble Energy. That stock is up 2%. The rare earth stocks are taking it on the chin. Molycorp is down 18% following a downgrade. Through the first hour the averages gave up their gains only to rebound strongly. Following the first hour the Dow shot up over 100 points led by the techs. The Nasdaq rose 22 points. Part of the rally is due to a weaker US dollar. The Fed is also expected to announce a new strategy tomorrow to help the economy. Keep your fingers crossed. In the afternoon the averages remained strong, but off the highs. The commodity sector is not participating in the rally except for a few oil stocks. Most financials remain unchanged. Not everything is rosy today. In the afternoon the rally fizzled with the commodity space getting hit. Even Apple is succumbing to selling pressure. In the last hour more profit-taking as the Nasdaq dropped into the red and the Dow's gains whittled down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 7 points at 11,408. The S&P 500 shed 2 points to 1,202. The Nasdaq Composite declined 22 points to 2,590.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.