Day Traders Diary
6/22/10
U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, with investors setting aside concerns over European banks and turning to earnings in the consumer and technology sectors. The Federal Reserve also starts its two-day meeting on interest rates, although there's not much they can do. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20 points to 10,462. The S&P 500 index rose a point to 1,114, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 13 points to 2,302. A quiet morning for news. In the tech space Apple continues to push higher. Research in Motion is modestly higher ahead of earnings on Thursday. Adobe is modestly higher ahead of earnings tonight. IBM is quietly pushing higher. Nokia continues to struggle, down nearly 50% in the last three months. S&P cut their debt outlook to negative. In the financials space we're seeing some profit-taking. Visa and Mastercard are lower following a big run up yesterday. Oppenheimer reiterated buy ratings on all the big banks, but investors are remaining on the sidelines until the Congressional financial reform bill is passed. T.R. Price is lower on a downgrade. Jefferies is bucking the trend, jumping 8% following better than expected earnings. In the retail space, Walgreen is down 8% following earnings. Carnival is lower as well following earnings. I guess people don't want to sail through the oil spill. Big Lots is down 4% on a downgrade. At 10 o'clock weaker than expected existing home sales in May sent the averages lower, falling into the red. As the morning progressed, the averages rebounded back into the green, thanks in part to the financials improving. A quiet morning so far. One stock performing well is Autozone, making a new 52 week high. In the afternoon the averages slowly sold off, accelerating in the last hour. Where did the buyers go? The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 148 points, or 1.4%, to end at 10,293. Out of the blue-chip average's 30 omponents, 27 ended lower, led by a 3.7% drop in shares of Alcoa. The S&P 500 index fell 17 points, or 1.6%, to 1,095, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 27 points, or 1.2%, to 2,261.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.