Day Traders Diary
10/21/11
U.S. stocks opened more than 1% high on Friday, buoyed by solid earnings growth at McDonald's and more positive sentiment about the outlook for Europe devising a solution to its sovereign debt and banking crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133 points, or 1.2%, to 11,675. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 13 points, or 1.1%, to 1,229. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 27 points, or 1%, to 2,626. The earnings keep coming in better than expected. That's a good sign. McDonalds and Honeywell are leading the Dow higher following earnings. McDonalds is trading at a new all time high. Another restaurateur, Chipotle Mexican Grill is jumping 6% on earnings. Plenty of tech earnings, but the stocks are mixed. Maxim, Microsoft, and Freescale are lower following earnings. The rest of the big cap techs are performing well. Rambus, Altera, Seagate, and Jabil Circuit are higher following earnings. In the financial space Eaton Vance, EastGroup Properties, Capital One, and Chubb are higher following earnings. SunTrust is down 5% even though they missed estimates. Blackstone is up 6% on an upgrade. The big banks are trading up 1.5%. The commodities are performing well although Schlumberger is unchanged after missing estimates. Through the first hour the averages pushed higher with the Dow rising 160 points and the Nasdaq rising 36 points. Through the morning the Dow rose over 200 points while the Nasdaq rose 30 points. I guess investors don't want to be short into the weekend with Europe convening to come up with better solutions for their debt crisis. In the afternoon the averages succumbed to profit-taking as the Dow dropped to just up 150 points. Gains in a number of financials have dissipated. Apple fell into the red as investors keep taking profits with the passing of Steve Jobs. The auto stocks look good. Ford is up 5% on news their debt rating was upgraded. GM is up 6%. The economic sensitive stocks are holding up. That's a good sign. Heading into the last hour the averages improved once again. In the last hour the averages skyrocketed into the close. What a week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 267 points, or 2.3%, at 11,808. Friday's gains erased a weekly loss. The blue-chip index rose 1.4% for the week, its fourth week of gains, which is the longest weekly winning streak since January. The S&P 500 added 22 points, or 1.9%, to 1,238. It gained 1.1% for the week, its third weekly advance, the longest stretch since February. The Nasdaq Composite added 38 points, or 1.5%, to 2,637.47. It fell 1.1% on the week.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.