Day Traders Diary
03/13/2012
U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday after the government reported retail sales hit a five-month high in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45 points to 13,005. The S&P 500 Index climbed 7 points to 1,378. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 19 points to 3,003. The news is all good. Through the first hour the averages pushed higher to new highs for the year. Apple is trading at a new high once again lifting the Nasdaq. IBM is also at a new high while Intel and Microsoft are just under their 52 week highs. Intel is looking to expand into WebTV. Dell is higher after making an acquisition. Dell and Oracle are higher on upgrades. Xilinx is higher after lifting their dividend. Research in Motion is higher on a downgrade. Everything is working in the tech space. The financials continue to shine ahead of their government stress test results. BB&T is higher after agreeing to acquire a BankAtlantic division. Actually every sector is higher even the defensive sectors like utilities, consumer staples, and healthcare only modestly higher. It's a risk on day. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages kept creeping higher ahead of the Fed's interest rate decision. The Dow rose over 100 points while the Nasdaq rose 30 points thanks in part to Apple up 2.5%. The Fed did as expected leaving rates unchanged, however the averages got an added boost when JP Morgan raised their dividend and increased their share buyback. JP Morgan jumped 7% as the financials skyrocketed. The Dow jumped 180 points while the Nasdaq rose 46 points. Up, up, and away. It's a risk on day for sure. Wow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 217 points, or 1.7%, at 13,177. The S&P 500 Index climbed 24 points, or 1.8%, to 1,395. The Nasdaq Composite rose 56 points to 3,039, its highest level since Nov. 15, 2000.
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