Day Traders Diary

04/25/2012

U.S. stocks opened sharply higher Wednesday as Apple's blow-out quarter lifted the Nasdaq above the 3,000 level. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 71 points to 13,073. The S&P 500 advanced 13 points, or 1%, to 1,385. The Nasdaq Composite surged 52 points, or 1.8%, to 3,014. It's all about Apple today. The stock is up 9.1% on blow out earnings and plenty of upgrades. Apple's suppliers like Cirrus Logic, Qualcomm, and Broadcom are all sharply higher. The rest of the tech space looks good. The blue chips Google, IBM, Intel, and Microsoft look good. Corning is up 5% on earnings. SAP and Motorola Solutions are higher on earnings. Baidu.com is down following earnings. Outside techs, things are not as bullish. In the Dow Jones, Caterpillar is down 4% on earnings. The rest of the industrials are modestly higher. United Tech is higher on an upgrade. Boeing is a stand out up 4% on earnings. In the material space Praxair is up 2% on earnings while the dog is Hess down 7% following disappointing earnings. In the energy space is modestly lower. NuStar Energy is down 3% on earnings. Nabor Industries is bucking the trend up 5% on earnings. The financials opened modestly higher, but then pulled back. Oppenheimer upgraded the sector. Credit Suisse is down 4% on earnings. AFLAC is higher by 6% on earnings. Through the first hour the Dow rose over 100 points as the Nasdaq lifted over 60 points. In the retail space JC Penney, Harley Davidson, Tupperware, Panera Bread, Tanger Factory Outlet, Aeropostale, and Buffalo Wild Wing all look great following earnings. Dr Pepper Snapple is down 3% on earnings. Through out the morning the Dow gave up half its' gains as more stocks dipped into the red. The Nasdaq remained strong thanks to Apple. Other companies reporting better than expected earnings today include Norfolk Southern, Avery Dennison, KKR, Six Flags, Diebald, Mead Westvaco, Sprint Nextel, Eli Lilly, Wellpoint, Ryder Systems, and Timken. AutoNation, Lorillard, Northrop Grumman, and Southern Company are lower on earnings. During the lunch hour the Fed left rates unchanged having little effect on the market. Apple is holding up the Nasdaq while Caterpillar is the biggest drag in the Dow. Through the afternoon the Dow rebounded while the Nasdaq remained strong. The Dow sold off again only to rebound in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 89 points at 13,090, led by a 5.3% rally in Boeing. The S&P 500 added 18 points, or 1.4%, to 1,390, led by a 3.2% jump in tech stocks. The Nasdaq Composite, the only one of the major benchmarks to fall in the prior session, rose 68 points, or 2.3%, to 3,029.

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