Day Traders Diary
04/02/2012
U.S. stocks opened mildly lower on Monday, the first trading day of the second quarter, after capping a stellar start to the year that has the S&P 500 up 12% for the first three months. The benchmark indexes took a cautious stance ahead of the Institute for Supply Management's factory index and a separate report on construction spending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53 points to 13,156. The S&P 500 fell 3 points to 1,404. The Nasdaq Composite declined 11 points to 3,080. A quiet day to start the second quarter. Better than expected manufacturing numbers out of China over the weekend seems to be helping the industrials, materials, and the energy space. Rio Tinto is higher on an upgrade. Rare earth stock, Molycorp is higher by 4% on analyst comments and take over chatter. The financials and techs are modestly lower for now. Hartford is higher on positive comments. Apple received another new upgrade with a new price target of $1001. Not bad. The chips are modestly lower. Texas Instruments is lower on a downgrade. Qualcomm was upgraded, but the stock is modestly lower. In the retail space Gap and Kohls are higher on upgrades, but Sherwin Williams is lower on a downgrade. Through the first hour the Nasdaq moved into the green along with the techs led by Apple. The Dow is moving back toward the unchanged level. The diamond of the day so far goes to Avon Products up 19% on a buy out offer. Groupon is down 11% after lowering guidance Friday night. Through the morning the Nasdaq remained in the green thanks to Apple. The Dow is hovering around the unchanged level. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages pushed higher. The Dow over 70 points while the Nasdaq improved by 32 points before pulling back in the last hour. Volume wasn't much more than average. More of seller strike today. A real bull market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 52 points to 13,264, with Chevron and International Business Machines contributing the most to the gains. The S&P 500 gained 10 points to 1,418, led by resource and tech stocks. The Nasdaq Composite gained 28 points to 3,119. A great to the new quarter.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.