Day Traders Diary
5/18/12
U.S. stocks opened with limited gains Friday as the market attempted to bounce back from its week of losses, with shares of Facebook to begin trading on the Nasdaq in about an hour. The Dow industrials rose 7 points to 12,449. The S&P 500 added 2 points to 1,306. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5 points to 2,808. The hype over Facebook is overshadowing an ugly close yesterday that pushed down the major averages to four month lows. The Asian markets dropped dramatically last night, but the European markets held in there allowing our averages to open flat. The news is quite ahead of the Facebook IPO. On the earnings front the techs look good. Salesforce.com is jumping 10% on earnings. Marvell, Intuit, and Applied Materials are also higher on earnings. Marvell, not to be confused with Marvel, is initiating a dividend and raising their share buyback. Apple is finally catching a bid. Google is higher as well. The dog in the tech space is Autodesk down 15% following disappointing earnings. The financials are floundering as JP Morgan's blunder continues to get worse. The stock is down a percent this morning. Donaldson is higher by 2% following earnings. Morgan Stanley is higher on an upgrade. In the retail space, Foot Locker is jumping 10% on earnings. Gamestop is jumping even though the stock was downgraded. The energy and materials are trying to bounce with limited success. The defensive space like telecom and utilities are catching a bid. Following yesterday, investors are very wary. Through the first hour the averages held on to modest gains. The financials are the worst performing sector so far this morning. Everyone is awaiting Facebook which finally came public around 11:30am. The stock opened much lower than expectations around $42 a share. The stock proceeded to decline falling all the way back to the IPO price of $38 a share. All eyes seem to be on Facebook as the ticker for everything else has slowed. Luckily for new shareholders, Facebook's stock held bouncing off the $38 a share level. During the lunch hour, Facebook's stock moved back above $40 a share as trading for the broader market went back to normal. As the afternoon progressed the averages moved lower once again. In the last hour the selling accelerated including Facebook which moved back toward the IPO price of $38 a share. Here we go again. U.S. stocks declined Friday, with the Dow and S&P falling for a third week, on concerns about Europe's debt troubles and prospects for global growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 73 points to 12,369. The S&P 500 Index fell 9 points to 1,295. The Nasdaq Composite shed 34 points, or 1.2%, to 2,778.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.