Day Traders Diary

8/9/10

Stocks open modestly higher on Monday after McDonald's better than expected July sales numbers overcome the weakness in HP. Gold and bond yields are higher as investors await the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting
tomorrow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 20 points to 10,673. The S&P
500 rose 2.6 points to 1,124. The Nasdaq Composite added 8 points to 2,296. HP
is the weakest of the blue chips down 6% after their CEO stepped down for fudging his expense account after paying off his mistress. I'm sure he didn't have a great weekend. On a brighter note, rival IBM is up in sympathy. McDonalds is up 2% thanks to those stronger sales. P&G and Deere are modestly higher on
upgrades. Most sectors opened higher, but the rally did not last. The financials turned south. TD Ameritrade is one of the few financials higher after announcing a share buyback. The techs not look great. Google is higher, but Apple is struggling even though it received an upgrade. The commodities opened higher, but sold off. Energy Transfer Partners is down 2% following lower profits. Tyson
Foods and Dish Networks are also lower following earnings. After the first half
an hour the averages were unchanged. After the first hour the averages perked up led by the techs. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remain in the green, but not by much. The techs are in the lead. Research in Motion is up 4% on optimism the company can figure out a plan to get back in service in countries like Saudi Arabia. Entering the last hour the Dow was up 60 points. The Nasdaq rose 17 points. In the last hour the averages held their gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 45 points at 10,698.75, with 25 of its 30 component stocks rising, led by a 2.9% gain in shares of Cisco Systems. Shares of Hewlett-Packard slumped 8% on the day. The S&P 500 index gained 6.15 points to 1,127, led by
the consumer discretionary sector. The Nasdaq Composite rose 17 points to 2,305.

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