Day Traders Diary

11/18/2008

The markets were headed toward another hasty open when technology titan Hewlett-Packard surprised Wall street by preannouncing upside guidance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 26 points to 8,300. The S&P 500 rose 3 points to 845, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 11 points to 1,493. Well, we found one Dow component not going to zero. Hewlett Packard is up 12% after raising guidance. HP's news is helping lift rival IBM, but not many other techs. Within the first half an hour, the Dow rose 80 points, then gave up all those gains. Shocker. One tech not rallying is Corning. The stock is down 13% after withdrawing guidance due to weak LCD demand. Yahoo is up 12%, not on good news, but more due to takeover talk. The CEO is stepping down providing a good opportunity to sell the firm. Home Depot beat estimates, however the firm is cautious on the future. The stock is up 5%. Saks missed estimates by 10 cents after losing $42 million. The stock is down 2%. After the first hour, the Dow had rallied once again, rising 130 points. Disney is up 4% on an upgrade. The Nasdaq rose a modest 8 points even though the techs look good. The commodities look good. The financials are trying to rally with little success. Citigroup continues to move lower. Through the morning the Dow rose as much as 200 points before pulling back. In the afternoon the averages fell back into the red. We can't keep a rally. Entering the last hour, the Dow was accelerating to the downside and that's with HP still up 11%. Many of the financials are making new lows including Citigroup. In the last hour, we looked like we were heading to another dismal close, but for once, we rallied into the close. Who knew there were any buyers left. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed finished up 151 points at 8,424. The S&P 500 gained 8 points to 859, while the Nasdaq Composite added a point to 1,483. We'll take it.

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.