Day Traders Diary

12/26/08

U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday even though the statistics say it was the worst holiday season in decades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46 points to 8,469. General Motors is performing well, rising 11% after the Federal Reserve cleared the way for GMAC to become a bank-holding company. The S&P 500 rose 6 points to 872, while the Nasdaq Composite added 4 points to 1,528. Even though it was a weak shopping season, Amazon is up 3.5% as they performed well gaining more market share. Walmart is modestly higher after announcing they will sell Apple iphones for $200 to $300 per phone. And that's about it for the news. In my opinion, it's a little crazy to be open until 4 o'clock today. I felt dumb driving to work today. The stock market is set to close out the year next weak, marking one of the worst years in history. Things have been so bad that even the state lotteries are seeing big declines as well. The decline, still doesn't improve your chances of winning. As the morning progressed the averages moved closer and closer to the unchanged level. Boring. Entering the lunch hour, more and more stocks slipped into the red. In the afternoon the Dow kept its nose above the unchanged level. The commodities are in the green. Entering the last hour the averages were modestly in the green and actually improved. Happy Holidays. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 47 points at 8,515. The S&P 500 Index rose 7 points to 872, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 5 points to 1,530. Another down week for the major averages.

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