Day Traders Diary
3/16/10
U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's afternoon statement in which the central bank is expected to keep interest rates at historic lows. Up for a sixth day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 5 points to 10,647. GE continues to perform well up 2% on positive analyst comments. The S&P 500 Index gained a point to 1,152. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2 points to 2,364. The financials are modestly higher this morning. Deutsche Bank is up 2% after reaffirming their net income. The insurance stocks are performing well thanks to positive analyst comments. Manulife was downgraded, but the stock is higher. The commodity stocks are performing well. Potash was upgraded. Gold is shooting higher. The retailers continue to perform well. Guess and Starbucks are higher on upgrades. Limited is up 4% after announcing a special one time dividend. DSW is one of the few retailers trading lower after missing estimates. After the first hour the averages were modestly higher on light volume. After the first hour, the U.S. dollar dropped sending the averages higher. The Nasdaq improved thanks to the semiconductors. Intel is up 3%. Google is higher even as they continue to threaten to leave China. Everything seems to be perking up a little bit. In the afternoon the averages remained quiet. The Fed left rates unchanged which did little to move the markets. In the last hour the averages crept higher. Everything looks good. GE is now up 4.5% for the day at new highs for the year. Management made bullish comments about the future including the option of raising their dividend once again next year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 43 points at 10,685. The S&P 500 Index climbed 8 points to 1,159 while the Nasdaq Composite Index added 15 points to 2,378.All comments contained herein are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The firm does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information or make any warranties regarding results from it's usage.