Day Traders Diary

2/19/09

U.S. stocks open modestly higher once again as the major averages sit precariously above the November bear market lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 35 points to 7,591. The S&P 500 climbed 6 points to 795 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 13 points to stand at 1,481. The Dow is holding in there even though HP lowered guidance last night. The stock is down 7%. Dell is down 3% in sympathy. Baidu is higher on solid earnings, helping lift Google and Yahoo. CNBC's Cramer recommended IBM, but it isn't helping. CBS reported dismal earnings last night and cut the dividend, but the stock is higher this morning. Sprint/Nextel, CVS, Avon, Hormel, Noble Energy, Gamestop, Whole Foods, and Pride International are higher following earnings. Whole Foods is jumping 33%. The best we can say about the financials is they opened unchanged or a little higher. However, after the open, Citigroup and Bank of America pushed lower, heading to zero. That's bad. Rumors are surfacing that JP Morgan wants to give back their TARP money. Can't blame them. After the first half an hour the averages hadn't budged from where they opened. After the first hour, the averages had drifted back to the unchanged level. Through the morning the averages drifted into the red. During the lunch hour the Dow dropped 50 points. The Nasdaq declined 10 points. Most of the financials are now in the red. Bank of America is down 11%. American Express made a new low. Insurance stocks are selling off. Prudential is down 12% on concerns with their commerical paper market. Hartford is down 20%. The commodities are performing well and select retailers are trading higher. And that's about it. Entering the last hour, the averages hovered just above the lows of the year. In the last hour, the Dow broke to new lows as GE fell below $10 a share. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 89 points, or 1.2%, to end at 7,465. The S&P 500 Index fell 9 points, or 1.2%, to 778 while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 25 points, or 1.7%, to end at 1,442.

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