Day Traders Diary

3/5/12

U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday after China reduced its economic growth outlook, with natural-resource companies leading the fall. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 29 points to 12,947. The S&P 500 Index declined 3 points to 1,366. The Nasdaq Composite fell 6 points to 2,969. The US markets are following the weakness overseas as the newswires over here are quiet. Through the first hour the selling accelerated with the Dow dropping 80 points and the Nasdaq declining 15 points. Through the morning the Nasdaq dropped another quick 15 points as Apple fell 4% in a matter of minutes. Apple did recover along with the Nasdaq as it looks like some scrupulous investors front ran a big Apple order to sell. Nice. Through the morning the averages remained weak, but off the lows. The best sectors are Utilities and Consumer Staples or the defensive names. It's a risk off day. In the tech space IBM is the diamond up a percent to a new all time high. Apple remains lower by 2%. VMware is lower even though it was upgraded. The financials are lower, but a few insurance stocks Allstate and Metlife are higher on upgrades. Credit Card companies Visa and MasterCard are higher as well. Wells Fargo is making big plans to expand overseas, but the stock is lower by 2%. The Energy and Material space are under pressure. BP is one bright spot after announcing a $7.8 billion settlement on their oil spill two years ago. In the afternoon the averages slowly recovered. In the last hour the Dow kept improving thanks to IBM, Travelers, and a number of Consumer Staples. That sector is leading the rebound. The Nasdaq is stuck in the red as Apple remains down over 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (finished down 14 points at 12,962. The S&P 500 fell 5 points to 1,364. The Nasdaq Composite lost 25 points to 2,950.

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