Day Traders Diary
1/8/09
The markets are down once again this morning following weak holiday retail sales. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 71 points to 8,698. Walmart is down 9% after missing December sales targets. The S&P 500 fell 6 points to 900 while the Nasdaq Composite declined 8 points to 1,590. No sugar coating it, the retail sales were weak. Most of the retailers are lower. Gap, J. Crew, Mens Wearhouse, and Macys all cut their outlook. A few retailers are higher. Christopher Bank and Bed Bath & Beyond had solid earnings. Aeropostale actually saw sales rise in December. That stock is up 3%. Sears numbers were not great, but the stock is jumping 18%. In other sectors, more preannouncements. Cardinal Health, Manitowoc, and Intuitive Surgical all lowered numbers. Manitowoc and Intuitive both opened down 15%. Within the financials, the best we can say is that most are unchanged. Moodys put Bank of America on credit watch negative. One interesting development is evolving at Citigroup. In the past, the big banks were against judges reworking mortgages to keep people in their homes. Now Citigroup is working with Senators to create legisation for that exact purpose. The techs are quiet this morning. EMC is up 4% after reaffirming numbers. After the first hour the averages tried to claw back. More financials are inching into the green. President elect Obama spoke this morning regarding the economy. The speech was light on details which caused the averages to drop back toward the lows of the day. In the afternoon more of the same. The averages tried to rebound only to sell back off. Investors are still nervous about tomorrows monthly unemployment numbers. Heading into the last hour the averages tried to rebound once again. The Nasdaq moved into the green. The Dow inched closer to the unchanged level. The news regarding Citigroup agreeing to allow Congress and judges to rework mortgages is getting more press. In the last hour the averages kept improving. The Dow inched closer to the unchanged level closing down just 27 points at 8,742. The S&P 500 gained 3 points to close at 909. The Nasdaq Composite gained 17 points to end at 1,617.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.