Day Traders Diary
7/16/12
U.S. retreated Monday after the prior session's rally after data illustrating U.S. retail sales in June fell for a third month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 53 points to 12,724. The S&P 500 index declined 4 points to 1,352. The Nasdaq Composite fell 9 points to 2,897. A quiet start to a week full of earnings reports. So far this morning Citigroup is higher by a percent after beating earnings estimates. Visa and Mastercard are higher on news of litigation settlement. Wells Fargo is also higher following earnings last week, but the rest of the financials are lower. JP Morgan is down 2% after jumping over 5% last Friday. GE is lower on a downgrade. In the tech space Google and Apple are higher, but the rest of the sector is lower. Investors are cautious ahead of earnings. Texas Instruments is lower on a downgrade. Qualcomm was upgraded, but the stock is lower. NCR is higher on a positive Barrons article. The consumer discretionary sector is lower on slow June sales numbers. Amazon is lower on concerns of pending online sales tax issues. The energy space is lower. Phillips 66 was upgraded, but the stock is lower. The coal stocks continue to struggle. Alpha Natural Resources is down 10% on a downgrade. Through the first hour the averages pushed lower with the Dow falling 75 points and the Nasdaq declining 18 points. In the tech space Google moved into the red ahead of earnings on Thursday. The defensive stocks are performing well. Bonds are also rallying as the 10 year Treasury falls to a new all-time interest rate. Amazing times. After the first hour the averages put in a nice rebound with the Dow and Nasdaq recovering half their losses as the US dollar sold off. This continues a similar theme for July with sell offs on the open followed by rebounds. Through the morning into the afternoon the averages remain in the red, but off the lows. Apple is up a percent preventing the Nasdaq from selling off. Facebook is down 4% back below $30 a share. JP Morgan is down 3%, but the rest of the big banks are holding up. Energy stocks are in the green thanks in part to the rebound in the US dollar. The markets seem to be in a tight range where we rebound on sell offs, but rarely move into the green. In the last hour, the averages drifted lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 49 points at 12,727. The S&P 500 index declined 3 points to 1,353. The Nasdaq Composite lost 11 points to 2,896.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.