Day Traders Diary

1/29/10

U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Friday after investors received upbeat data on the economy and positive results from the technology sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 32 points to 10,153. The S&P 500 Index rose 3 points to 1,088. The Nasdaq Composite added 16 points to 2,195. GDP in the fourth quarter rose to 5.7%, but that won't be repeated. In the tech sector Amazon and Juniper are higher following better than expected earnings. Microsoft had good earnings and traded up last nigtht, but now is lower. Sandisk is down 7% even though they easily beat. KLA-Tencor is lower as well after beating estimates. The financials are mixed this mornings. The big banks are modestly higher. A number of regionals are lower. Suntrust and Wilmington Trust are lower. Suntrust was downgraded and Wilmington missed estimates. Fifth Third and Capital One are higher on upgrades. Melife is higher on a positive Barrons online piece. Genworth Financial is up 4% after beating estimates and indicating they would like to start the dividend again next year. In the retail space Columbia Sportswear is modestly higher following strong earnings. Walmart and Macys are up 2% on upgrades. McDonalds is modestly higher after announcing more expansion into China. In the commoditiy space Arch Coal is down 7% after missing estimates. Potash is lower even though it was upgraded. After the first hour the Dow rose 100 points. The Nasdaq improved by 22 points. So far so good. As the morning progressed the averages gave up their gains. During the lunch hour all theee major averages fell into the red. The Dow was the only average to move back into the green before the last hour. In the last hour more selling. Here we go again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53 points to 10,067, leaving the blue chips down 3.5% for the month. The S&P 500 Index declined 10 points, or 1%, to 1,073, leaving it off 3.7% for January. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 21 points, or 1.5%, to 2,147, down 5.4% for January.

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