Day Traders Diary
7/9/12
U.S. stocks tilted mostly down Monday as Spanish yields move higher once again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 27 points to 12,745. The S&P 500 slipped 2 points to 1,352. The Nasdaq Composite rose a fraction to 2,937. Earnings season starts tonight with Alcoa , but once again the news front is quiet. In the healthcare space, Amerigroup is jumping 38% after agreeing to be bought out for $92 in cash from WellPoint. The acquirer, WellPoint is also trading higher which is a good sign. WellCare Health Plans is jumping 18% in sympathy to rival Amerigroup. On a separate note, Questcor Pharma is jumping 15% today up 45% for the year thanks to strong drug sales. Arena Pharma is performing well up 4% on speculation of a possible buyout. The whole healthcare space is trading higher. The other defensive spaces like the utilities and consumer staples are holding up as well. PG, Altria, Philip Morris, and Kraft are modestly higher. Campbell Soup is unchanged after reiterating guidance. The energy and materials are the weakest sectors once again. In the tech space Apple looks good, but everything else is succumbing to profit-taking. Apple has become a defensive play in the tech space. Facebook is actually catching a bid as well. AMD and Intel are lower after an analyst cut their numbers. The financials are lower once again following weakness overseas. JP Morgan is modestly lower ahead of earnings on Friday. Visa and MasterCard are lower by 3% each on downgrades. Wells Fargo and PNC are bucking the trend thanks to positive comments from an analyst. Through the first hour the averages pushed lower giving back everything they gained in the last hour on Friday. The Dow fell over 70 points while the Nasdaq declined 14 points. Through the morning the averages stabilized bouncing off the lows. A few more stocks have moved into the green including the transports. During the lunch hour the averages drifted back toward the lows of the day. Through the afternoon the averages rebound sold off again only to rebound in the last hour. One stock not rebounding is Patriot Coal down 72% on concerns of a pending bankruptcy. The energy sector remains a problem child for the markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36 points to 12,736, falling for a third straight day in a row. The S&P 500 fell 2 points to 1,352, also down for a third session. The Nasdaq Composite lost 5 points to 2,931.
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