Day Traders Diary
4/30/10
U.S. stocks opened mixed following better than expected first quarter GDP numbers while the government is considering criminal charges against investment bank Goldman Sachs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 17 points to 11,184. The S&P 500 Index fell a point to 1,205. The Nasdaq Composite declined a point to 2,510. Goldman opened down 4% on the bad headline news. The rest of the financials are modestly lower. Metlife is jumping 2% on better than expected earnings. Hartford, Barclays, and Genworth are lower following earnings. In the tech sector McAfee and Qlogic are both down over 8% following earnings. Micron and Sandisk are lower even though both were upgraded. Even Apple is lower. Google is modestly higher although that stock is down a lot over the last two weeks. In the retail space Callaway is lower following earnings while Coinstar is jumping 21% following earnings. Trex is up 8% on better than expected earnings. Kellogg is higher on an upgrade. Newell Rubbermaid is up 3% after raising guidance. After the first hour the averages remain in the red, but off the lows. Goldman has pushed lower breaking through some support. Oil driller, Transocean is down 6% as the oil spill their drill created in the Gulf continues to spread. Heading into the lunch hour the averages recovered and then sold back off during the lunch hour. Goldman Sachs is down 9%. I don't think they saw this coming. In the afternoon the Dow fell over a 100 points. Gap is down over 3% after recalling baby swimsuits due to strangulation hazard. Not a lot of great headlines in the news today. In the last hour no rally, just more selling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 158 points, or 1.4%, at 11,008, weighed down by a 3.8% drop in shares of Caterpillar and heavy declines in shares of JP Morgan Chase, American Express, and Bank of America. The S&P 500 index fell 20 points, or 1.7%, to 1,186, while the Nasdaq Composite slumped 50 points, or 2%, to 2,461. For the week, the Dow fell 1.8%, the S&P was down 2.5%, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.7%. For April, the Dow still gained 1.4%, the S&P rose 1.5% and the Nasdaq gained 2.6%.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.