Day Traders Diary
12/19/11
U.S. stocks gained Monday, recouping part of last week's losses, as investors anticipated the next round of Europe headlines in what's likely to be a low-volume trading week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44 points to 11,910. The S&P 500 gained 4 points to 1,224. The Nasdaq Composite rose 14 points to 2,568. Stocks are rebounding from last week's retreat of more than 2% although it's a quiet day for news except for the fact the dictator of North Korea passed away over the weekend. The South Korean index fell 4% this morning. Back here, no news to push the markets. Through the first hour the Dow held on to gains even as the financials lost some steam. The rest of the market is holding up. UPS looks good this morning after reporting record shipping sales last week. Apple is higher as UPS must be shipping a lot of Ipads. F5 Networks is higher on an upgrade. Oracle and Salesforce.com are modestly higher on positive analyst comments. Xilinx is down after lowering guidance. In the retail space Coinstar, Under Armour, and Footlocker are modestly higher on positive analyst comments. Toy maker, Jakks Pacific is down 20% on lower sales volume. Cablevision is rebounding 3% after getting hit last week and the last six months for the most part. After the first hour the averages drifted lower falling into the red. Diamond Offshore is lower on a downgrade. Speaking of diamonds, the diamond of the day goes to Winn Dixie up 71% after agreeing to be taken over. In the afternoon the averages remained weak lead by the financials. An Internet IPO from last Friday, Zynga is down another 5% today. It's never been so easy to lose money. With the start of the last hour, the averages accelerated to the down side. Bank of America is down below $5 a share on concerns the banks needs to raise more capital. Into the close the averages bounced off the lows, but not a good way to start the week. U.S. stocks closed near the lows of the session Monday, after a series of statements from European officials doused a flicker of positive sentiment about the region. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 100 points at 11,766, led by a 4.1% drop in Bank of America shares to under $5. The S&P 500 fell 14 points, or 1.2%, to 1,205 led by a 2.3% drop in financial stocks. The Nasdaq Composite fell 32 points, or 1.3%, to 2,523.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.