Day Traders Diary

7/31/09

U.S. stocks rose at the open Friday after the government said U.S. gross domestic production fell a not-as-bad-as-expected 1% in the second quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 46 points to 9,201. The S&P 500 index rose 4 points to 991, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 8 points to 1,992. The earnings season is winding down. In the tech sector, Hutchinson Tech and Netsuite are down 14% following disappointing earnings. McAfee and Rosetta Stone are up over 4% after beating estimates. The financials are quiet. Metlife is up 2% following solid earnings. GE and Bank of America keep creeping higher following upgrades earlier in the week. Other companies reporting earnings include Washington Post, Chevron, Dominion Resources, Auto Nation, First Solar, and Constellation Energy.
After the first hour, the averages remain in the green. Disney is bucking the trend in the Dow, falling 3.5%, after it posted mixed quarterly results. The Nasdaq is up 8 points. In the tech sector IBM, Google, Apple, and Research in Motion are higher. A resilent market. Through the morning and into the afternoon, the averages remained in the green, but not by much. Two stock quietly moving higher are Bank of America and GE. Both stocks were upgraded by Goldman Sachs this week. In the last hour, the averages rallied, then sold back off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its best monthly gain since 2002, rising 8.6%, and finished its best July since 1989. It gained 0.9% for the week and 17 points today to close at 9,172. The S&P 500 rose 7.4% for the month and 0.8% for the week. It ended Friday up 70 cents higher at 987. The Nasdaq Composite gained 7.8% for the month and 0.6% for the week. But it closed down 6 points at 1,979.

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