Day Traders Diary
2/12/09
U.S. stocks opened lower once again as better than expected retail data did little to boost investor confidence. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 134 points to 7,805. Coke is one of the few Dow components trading higher after beating estimates by 3 cents. The S&P 500 dropped 16 points to 817. The Nasdaq Composite shed 23 points to 1,507. Plenty of bad earnings this morning. Viacom is down 2% on a 69% drop in net income. Management indicated no recovery in sight. Aetna is down 3% following a 57% drop in earnings. Marriott, Cedar Fair, Manulife, and Thomas Weisel are also lower following earnings. The diamond of the day goes to Buffalo Wild Wing up 26% on better than expected earnings. AnnTaylor is higher on an upgrade. A few techs are trading higher like Google, Apple, and Research in Motion. After the first half an hour the averages pushed lower. The Dow dropped 190 points. The Nasdaq declined 25 points. Through the morning the averages bounced off the lows on light volume. The stocks that were up this morning (select techs, retailers, and coke) are still positive. Aetna and Viacom have turned around moving into the green. During the lunch hour the Nasdaq moved into the green. The commodities have turned around, the healthcare sector looks good, and the techs are improving. The lunch hour rally didn't last. The averages sold back off toward the lows of the day. The financials look awful. Goldman Sachs is predicting more bank losses to come. Dow Chemical is lower after slashing their dividend. Entering the last hour the averages were heading toward the November lows when the government announced a plan for mortgage subsidies within the rescue package. That triggered a short covering rally within the financials. That's seems to be the only way we can rally now a days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 6 points at 7,932. The S&P 500 gained a point to 835, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 11 points to 1,541.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.