Day Traders Diary

2/24/12

U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Friday following a rise in overseas markets overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 5 points to 12,990. The S&P 500 Index rose 2 points to 1,365. The Nasdaq Composite added 5 points to 2,962. A quiet day for news, but the earnings keep coming in. In the tech space Salesforce.com is jumping 8% following earnings. All the cloud computing stocks are higher this morning. Nokia is higher on rumors of a major announcement coming next week. Apple is higher once again just under its' 52 week high. Google is also higher, but the rest of the sector is struggling. Autodesk is lower following earnings. The financials fell into the red after the open, but most of the European banks are performing well. Deutsche Bank is higher thanks to an upgrade. AIG is up 2% following earnings. Blackrock is higher after raising their dividend. The REIT, EastGroup Properties is lower on a downgrade. In the retail space a number of companies are lower. Crocs and Decker Outdoors, two popular shoe companies, are lower by 8% following disappointing guidance. Kenneth Cole is jumping 20% on earnings. JC Penney is also lower following earnings. Kroger is higher on an upgrade. Through the first hour the averages moved sideways, dipping into the red only to rebound into the lunch hour. Crude Oil is higher once again up over $108 a barrel helping the energy space. Nabors Industries and Ensco are higher on upgrades. In the afternoon the averages held on to gains with the Dow up 20 points above 13000. Energy remains the top sector with oil at $109 a barrel. Entering the last hour the Dow game up its' gains reluctantly, but no major sell off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 2 points at 12,982 leaving it up 0.3% for the week. The S&P 500 rose 2 points to 1,365, also gaining 0.3% from the week-ago close. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 6 points to 2,963, rising 0.4% for the week.

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