Day Traders Diary

8/16/19

The major averages rebounded today ending a wild week on Wall Street.  Bond yields eased back from historic lows easing fears of a recession that sent stocks tumbling earlier in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 306 points, or 1.2%, to 25,886, while the S&P 500 gained 1.4% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.7% led by Apple and Nvidia. For the week, the major averaged declined as much as 3% before recovering. Dow still lost 1.5% for the week and is down 3.6% for the month. The major averages posted their third straight weekly decline with the S&P 500 down 1%. The Nasdaq was modestly lower.

Bank stocks rallied along with the rise in bond yields on Friday as Bank of America and Citigroup gained 3% and 3.5% respectively. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF rose 2.7%, enjoying its best day since June.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors finished higher with most of the leadership concentrated among the cyclical sectors, which were hit the hardest this week. Nine sectors increased by at least 1.0%, including near 2.0% gains in the industrials 1.9%, information technology 1.9%, and financials 1.9% sectors. The real estate and utilities sectors rose modestly.

The Dow lost 800 points or 3% on Wednesday, the fourth biggest point decline in history, after the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note briefly broke below the 2-year rate. The inversion of this key part of the yield curve has been a reliable indicator of economic recessions. That part of the curve is no longer inverted Friday and stocks started to move higher as the curve steepened with the rise in yields. Some traders tied the rebound in bond yields to a report that Germany would issue more debt to stimulate the economy.

Today's diamond goes to NVIDIA up 7% after beating top and bottom-line estimates, although it did guide Q3 revenue below consensus. Applied Materials closed down 1% despite beating earnings estimates and providing in-line guidance. Deere opened down 1.9% after missing top and bottom-line estimates, but then finished up 3.8% following the broader market higher throughout the day. General Electric rebounded 9.7% after shares fell more than 10% yesterday on accounting fraud allegations. CEO Larry Culp bought about $2 million worth of stock during yesterday's sell-off.