Day Traders Diary
10/6/11
U.S. stocks on Thursday tilted slightly lower after U.S. jobless claims rose less than expected last week and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet spoke of increased downside risk to the region at his monthly news conference. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 13 points to 10,926. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed a point to 1,142. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 2 points to 2,458. The big news of the day is the passing of Steve Jobs. Apple's stock is modestly lower. The rest of the techs are performing well. Corning is jumping 4% after raising their dividend 50% and initiating a share buyback. That's a good sign. The commodity space is rebounding on the lower US dollar. Freeport is up 20% since Tuesdays lows. MolyCorp is jumping 12% on positive analyst comments. In the retail space, Helen of Troy is down 8% after missing estimates. TJX is down after lowering guidance. JP Penney is unchanged after lowering guidance. Polo Ralph Lauren is up 3% on an upgrade. Through the first hour the averages pulled back only to rebound. Through the morning the averages clawed back into positive territory led by techs and commodities. Constellation Brands is up 8% after beating estimates. So there are companies beating estimates. Tomorrow is a big unemployment number for the month of September. Hopefully the data will ease fears of a recession and allow the averages to keep rallying. Through the morning the averages kept rallying with a nice turnaround in the financials. Bank of America is jumping 6%. In the afternoon, a couple of sell offs only brought the buyers back in. The markets are acting like a bull market, at least for a couple days. The financials remain strong. Actually everything looks good with only a few stocks in the red. Apple remains modestly in the red with the passing of Steve Jobs. In the last hour, for a third straight day, the averages rallied into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 183 points, or 1.7%, at 11,123, its first close above 11,000 in a week. An 8.8% jump in Bank of America shares led gains for 26 of 30 Dow components. The S&P 500 ended up 20 points, or 1.8%, at 1,164, led by a 3.2% gain in the index's financial sector. The Nasdaq Composite rose 46 points, or 1.9%, to 2,506.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.