Day Traders Diary
12/23/11
U.S. stocks opened with modest gains Friday after economic data had durable goods rising in November by the most in four months. A separate report had consumer spending rising less than forecast last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 13 points to 1,2182. The S&P 500 added 2 points to 1,256. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 4 points to 2,603. Should be a quite day ahead of the long holiday weekend. The stocks that have done well all year continue to perform well into year end. Case in point the utilities, the healthcare, and the consumer staples are all trading higher this morning with a number of them making new 52 week highs. Through the first hour the Dow rose 60 points thanks to a number of components trading at or near 52 week highs. The list includes Walmart, Verizon, McDonalds, Home Depot, Kraft, Pfizer, and Merck. Verizon was upgraded this morning with a $43 price target. The Nasdaq is only up 10 points as the wind was taken out of their sails this week with Oracle's disappointing earnings report. VMware is higher on an upgrade. Rambus is jumping 16% after signing a patent license agreement with Broadcom ending their lawsuit. Broadcom is modestly higher as well. In the afternoon the Dow kept inching higher. Only a few stocks are lower and of course they are financial stocks like Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. In the last hour the averages rallied into the close. A good way to end the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 124 points, or 1%, at 12,293. It gained 3.6% for the week, the third up week in four. The S&P 500 rose 11 points to 1,265, up 3.7% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite added 19 points to 2,618, up 2.5% for the week. U.S. stock markets are closed Monday for the Christmas holiday.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.