Day Traders Diary

4/9/10

U.S. stocks opened higher Friday for a second day of gains as worries about Greece's debt ebbed. The energy sector paced the gains as crude oil neared $86 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 17 points to 10,944. The S&P 500 Index climbed 2 points to 1,188. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose half a point to 2,437. The financials look good ahead of earnings season next week. Bond insurer, Ambac is jumping 76% after reporting a quarterly profit. Rival MBIA is up 5%. The techs are mixed. Everyone is expecting good earnings next week from the chip sector. Intel is modestly higher on an upgrade. Fairchild Semi and Salesforce.com were also upgraded. Apple continues to perform well, but Google can't seem to get going. The retail space continues to receive good news. Aeropostale, Gymboree, Gap, Talbots, Target, and JC Penney all received upgrades this morning. JC Penney is up 3%. The commodities are performing well. Atlas Energy is up 19% after signing a new big contract with India. After the first half an hour the averages remain in the green. So far so good. After the first hour the averages remain in the green, but the financials have given up their gains. In the afternoon the averages improved without the financials. A select number of stocks are not participating including Google, Freeport McMorRan, GE, and Walmart. Alcoa is down ahead of earnings on Monday due to a downgrade. In the last hour the averages made a run with the Dow touching 11,000 for the first time since the fall of 2008.The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 70 points, or 0.6%, at 10,997, up 0.6% for the week. The S&P 500 Index rose 7 points, or 0.7%, to 1,194.37, for a weekly rise of 1.4%. The Nadaq Composite Index gained 17 points, or 0.7%, to 2,454, up 2.1% from the prior week's close.

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.