Day Traders Diary
3/25/09
U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday in the wake of positive economic data showing an unexpected rise in big-ticket durable goods in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 87 points to 7,747. The S&P 500 Index added 8 points to 814 while the Nasdaq Composite rose 16 points to 1,533. The financials are performing well this morning, a very good sign. Bank of America is up 6% on comments in the LA Times that they want to start repaying their TARP money as soon as next month. We'll see. Blackstone and American Express were downgraded, however, both stocks are higher. President Obama is expected to meet with the top bank CEOs on Friday. The tech stocks are performing well. Jabil Circuit is up 36% on better than expected earnings. Nvidia, Corning, and Sony are higher thanks to upgrades. IBM is within inches of $100 a share, first time since October. Research in Motion is one of the few big cap techs trading lower on a downgrade. The retail sector is mixed. Urban Outfitters is down 5% due to a downgrade. DSW is down 6% after missing earnings estimates. The restaurant stocks are performing well thanks to an upgrade. After the first half an hour, the averages pushed higher thanks to better than expected housing data. The 30 year fixed mortgage rate broke through 5% today, another good sign. Through the morning the averages pushed higher. The Dow rose as much as 200 points before pulling back. The Nasdaq rose 27 points. Everything looks pretty good. In the afternoon, the rally fizzled. The commodities sold off. The major averages moved into the red. Even the financials are moving into the red. The culprit seems to be a Treasury auction which didn't go off as well as expected. The Dow dropped over 100 points before rebounding into the last hour. In the last hour, the averages surprisingly moving back into the green. Go figure. The White House helped things by supporting the dollar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 89 points, or 1.2%, at 7,749. The S&P 500 Index added 7 points, or 1%, to finish at 813, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 12 points, or 0.8%, to close at 1,528.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.