Day Traders Diary
2/20/09
The foreign markets and the U.S. markets keep pushing lower. No solution in sight for the financials or the housing market. The Dow dropped 135 points to 7330 after closing at a six year low in the prior session. Verizon and AT&T are both up 3% on upgrades from Goldman Sachs. The S&P 500 dropped 14 points to 764 while the Nasdaq Composite fell 18 points to 1,424. Citigroup and Bank of America keep dropping on fears of nationalization. Other financials like Wells Fargo, GE, US Bancorp, UBS, and many others are making new lows. Mastercard is unchanged on an upgrade. On the earnings front, Lowes is down 3% after missing estimates. JCPenney is unchanged even though profits dropped 51% year over year. At least they're still making money. Crocs and Barrick Gold are also lower following earnings. Intuit, Mylan, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, and Tim Hortons are four diamonds trading higher after earnings. Gold is one of the few commodities higher, topping and closing above the $1,000 mark. After the first hour the averages remained weak, but off the lows. The Dow remained down 90 points. The Nasdaq down 6 points. Through the morning, the averages sold back off led by the financials. All the major banks are now below $10 a share. US Bancorp broke below $10 yet its market cap is bigger than Citigroup and Bank of America. Goldman Sachs is worth more than the combined market caps of Citigroup and Bank of America. In the middle of the afternoon, the Dow dropped over 200 points to new lows for the year. The Dow is now down 49% from the highs set in 2007. The drumbeat for nationalization for the big banks is growing. Senator Dodd even made hints of nationalization. The averages started to recover after Bank of America defended their company and the White House tried to ease concerns of nationaliztion. Entering the last hour the averages were unchanged, but then sold off once again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 100 points at 7,365, down 6.2% for the week, its worst since October. The S&P 500 shed 8 points to 770, off 6.9% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite dropped a point to 1,441, giving it a weekly loss of 6.1%.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.