Day Traders Diary

1/10/12

U.S. stocks opened strongly higher on Tuesday a day after aluminum producer Alcoa reported results that boosted sentiment about earnings ahead. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108 points to 12,501. Alcoa is modestly higher. The S&P 500 gained 13 points to 1,294. The Nasdaq Composite gained 31 points to 2,708. Strong markets overseas are lending support to the major averages. A rally in Europe means the financials move higher. Suntrust, Comerica, Keycorp, and Capital One are higher on upgrades. The whole regional bank sector also received positive comments. The big banks aren't doing too bad as well. Bank of America is up 3% on news of cost cutting in Asia. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are higher by 4%. The techs are shooting higher. Intel is making a new 52 week high. Apple is higher once again. Corning is higher on positive analyst comments. The energy space and materials look great. CF Industries and Agrium are higher by 2% on upgrades. Hess is jumping 3%. In fact, most sectors are performing well. Only the retail sector is showing some hiccups. Tractor Supply and Marriott are higher thanks to upgrades. DSW is higher on sales guidance while Lululemon is jumping 14% after raising guidance. The dog of the day goes to Tiffany down 10% after lowering guidance. Through the first hour the averages remained near the highs of the day. Through the morning the Dow remained up triple digits. The Nasdaq remained up 30 points although a couple more stocks fell into the red. Google had a nice bounce on the open, but then sold off. Not a good sign. GE in the Industrial space is one of the few stocks in the red. In the afternoon more the same. The major averages continued to perform well with the financials in the lead. It's nice to say that. In the last hour the averages drifted off the highs, but held on to a majority of their gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 69 points at 12,462, led by a 5.7% gain in Bank of America. The S&P 500 rose 11 points to 1,292. The Nasdaq Composite added 25 points, or 1%, to 2,702.

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