Day Traders Diary
8/2/12
U.S. stocks began Thursday in a steep decline as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi failed to deliver hoped for action to address Europe's debt crisis. "He essentially came out last week and put his reputation on the line by promising they'll do whatever it takes, and he failed on that," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners LLC in New York. At a news conference in Frankfurt, Draghi said euro-zone members have to be ready to begin the European Financial Stability Facility. "The market was hoping for some type of intervention in the way of buying the debt of the countries that are in trouble," said Pavlik. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 86 points to 12,885. The S&P 500 index declined 11 points to 1,364. The Nasdaq Composite lost 16 points to 2,903. While the markets are focused on the lack of stimulus coming out of Europe, the earnings reports over here keep coming in. In the insurance space Prudential and MetLife look good as both are trading up over 3%. Lincoln National is jumping 7% on earnings while Hartford is down a percent. Hartford can't seem to get out of its' own way. The rest of the financial space is selling off following the European lead. In the retail space Weight Watchers, American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Sony are all sharply lower on earnings while Kelloggs and Macys are up 3% on earnings. A sharp sell-off to start the day didn't last. Through the first hour the averages rebounded only to sell back off. Through the morning the averages pushed lower with the Dow dropping over 150 points while the Nasdaq declined 25 points. In the afternoon the averages slowly improved. In the last hour the averages kept improving as the Nasdaq pared its' losses to 13 points as Apple moved into the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 92 points at 12,878. The S&P 500 index shed 10 points to 1,365. The Nasdaq Composite declined 10 points to 2,909.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.