Day Traders Diary

8/6/09

U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Thursday, with shares of insurer AIG and other financials pacing the gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 42 points to 9,323. The S&P 500 added 4 points to 1,007. The Nasdaq Composite rose 9 points to 2,002. The most beaten up stocks are performing great and I don't know if that's a good sign. AIG is up 10%, Fannie and Freddie Mac are up 5%, and Citigroup is up 5%. The financials keep pushing higher. Citigroup upgraded JP Morgan and American Express. Both are higher. Morgan Stanley is modestly higher after agreeing to pay back TARP money. Blackstone is modestly higher following earnings. That stock is up 300% in the last four months. Bond insurer, MBIA is up 10% after beating estimates. A number of insurance stocks reported solid earnings, however they are all trading lower. Allstate, Prudential, and Manulife are all down over 3% following earnings. The retail sector reported solid retail sales for the month of July. Macys, Kohls, American Eagle, Wendys, and Activision Blizzard are all higher on either earnings or earnings guidance. Gymboree and TJX are modestly lower on earnings and earnings guidance. After the first half an hour, someone popped a hole in our rally. The Dow went from up 40 points to down 40 points after the first hour of trading. The Nasdaq declined 17 points. Cisco Systems is lower by 1% even though earnings beat estimates. The techs are looking a little tired like the broader market. Through the morning the averages didn't deviate far from the unchanged level. The financials and retailers are holding in there. In the last hour, no rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 24 points to finish at 9,256. The S&P 500 index lost 5 points to 997, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 19 points to 1,973.

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