Day Traders Diary
7/30/09
U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, receiving a boost amid another batch of better-than-expected earnings, including from credit-card giant MasterCard. In addition, a rise in jobless claims in the latest week was in line with expectations, soothing economic concerns a day ahead of U.S. growth figures for the previous quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to 91 points, or 1%, to 9,162, with 28 of its 30 components opening higher. Shares of General Electric are jumping 7%, after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. The S&P 500 index rose 11 points, or 1%, to 986, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 22 points, or 1%, to 1,990. A lot of stocks trading up following earnings. The insurance stocks like Hartford, Lincoln Financials, and Aflac are all up over 8% on earnings. Within the financials Mastercard, Visa, and Franklin Resources are higher following earnings. The techs are mixed. Flextronics, Akamai, Quality Systems, ADP, andSymantec are lower following earnings. Google and Amazon ae higher on upgrades. Yahoo is lower once again following that disappointing pact with Microsoft. In the retail sector Office Max, Cabelas, and Callaway are strong following earnings. Childrens Place is up 10% after the ex-CEO dropped his proxy fight against his former company. After the first half an hour, the Dow jumped 140 points while the Nasdaq rose 34 points. Other companies trading higher following earnings include Cigna, Tyco, Motorola, Apache, Mylan, Avon Products, IP, and Wynn Resorts. July has been very good to us. Through the morning the averages remained strong. Only three Dow components are trading lower. The S&P 500 nearly hit 1000 for the first time since the first week of November. It's been a good run. In the afternoon the averages remained strong, but off the highs of the day. The seven year Treasury auction went much better today than yesterdays two year auction which is good for the markets. In the last hour we finally saw some profit-taking. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83 points to close at 9,154, its highest close since early November. The S&P 500 index rose 11 points, or 1%, to 986, off an intraday high of 996, but also its highest close since early November. The Nasdaq Composite gained 14 points to 1,984, off a high of 2,009. The index hadn't crossed the 2,000 mark since October 3rd.
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