Day Traders Diary

7/19/19

The major averages tried their best, but finished in the red for the day and the week after news broke that Iran seized a British oil tanker and The Wall Street Journal reported that the Fed is signaling only a 25-basis points rate cut at the end of July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68 points to 27,154 after rising more than 100 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 closed down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.7%. For the week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell more than 1% each, notching their biggest weekly loss since late May. The Dow fell 0.6% for the week after making all-time highs earlier in the week.

Microsoft shares hit a record after the tech giant posted quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analyst expectations. The company's results were driven by a 39% year-over-year surge in cloud revenue. The stock closed just 0.15% higher, however. Another Dow component, Boeing rose 4% after it announced a $4.9 billion charge for its 737 MAX grounding, less than investors feared.

Heightened tensions in the Middle East did spur a rebound in oil prices which contributed to the outperformance of the S&P 500 energy sector up 0.5%. Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors finished in the red lead by real estate down 1.7%, utilities down 1.5% and communication services down 1.3%.

Transport stocks went on a roller-coaster ride this week outperforming today after KC Southern rose 4.6% following earnings results. The Dow Jones Transportation Average advanced 0.6% to cut its weekly loss to just 0.3%.