Day Traders Diary

12/7/11

After bouncing up against resistance levels, the major averages are succumbing to profit-taking as Germany is rejecting the notion of combining the current and permanent euro-area rescue funds. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 72 points to 12,077. The S&P 500 Index dropped 9 points to 1,248. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 23 points to 2,625. Today seems to be a day of profit-taking as most sectors are lower except for the healthcare space. Bristol Myers is trading higher after hiking their dividend last night. UnitedHealth Group is modestly higher on an upgrade. The financials are lower today after a couple good days. Bank of Montreal is lower on a downgrade. Ameriprise is lower even though they hiked their dividend by 21%. Allstate is lower on an upgrade. Blackstone is one of the few financials higher on an upgrade. Things are mixed in the tech space. Vitesse Semi and LinkIn are higher on upgrades. Cisco, Intel, and IBM are modestly higher. Apple and Google were upgraded, but both are modestly lower. In the retail space Mens Wearhouse looks good jumping 14% following earnings. Talbots is up 58% after receiving a takeover offer. Martha Stewart is jumping 30% on news of a alliance with JC Penney. Nike is unchanged on an upgrade. Through the morning the averages drifted lower with the Dow dropping as much as 90 points before rebounding a little. The Nasdaq dropped 36 points before rebounding thanks to Intel and Cisco among others. In the afternoon the Dow moved into the green on listless trading. The Nasdaq remains stuck in the red. The averages traded sideways until the last hour when comments about the G-20 using the IMF to provide funding of up to $600 billion to aid Europe sent the Dow up 90 points while the Nasdaq inched into the green. Before the close, the IMF denied such rumors, but the Dow was able to hold on to most of its' gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 46 points at 12,196, led by a 2.3% gain in J.P. Morgan Chase. Intel also aided the Dow making a new 52 week high. The S&P 500 finished up 2 points at 1,261. The Nasdaq Composite edged back 40 cents to 2,649.

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