Day Traders Diary
8/20/10
U.S. stocks fell further at the open Friday, adding to the sharp losses from the previous session which saw the latest batch of data continuing to signal a slowdown in the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53 points to 10,216, weighed down by a 1% drop in shares of aluminum giant Alcoa. Shares of Dow component Hewlett-Packard fell 0.8% after the computer maker posted better than expected earnings. The S&P 500 index fell 4 points to 1,070, weighed down by its energy, telecom, and industrials sub-sectors. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 4 points to 2,174. Along with HP, Dell is lower as well following better than earnings. Salesforce.com is strong up 8% following better than expected earnings. Other companies reporting earnings include Foot Locker, Aeropostale, Gap, AnnTaylor, Hormel, Smuckers, and Hibbett Sports. Hibbett Sports is down 8% while Smuckers and Hormel are modestly higher. A number of upgrades and downgrades this morning. McAfee received a number of downgrades after getting bought out yesterday. Rival Symantec received an upgrade and is acting better on optimism that company may get bought out as well. In the tech space, Corning and Research in Motion are lower on downgrades. Research in Motion is near its 52 week low. In the financials space, Bank of America made a 52 week low this morning. The banks can't seem to get out of their own way. After the first hour the averages moved lower with the Dow dropping over 100 points. Through the morning the averages bounced off the lows, but remained weak. In the afternoon the averages slowly improved heading into the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 57 points to end at 10,213, with 22 of its 30 components falling. Shares of Hewlett-Packard weighed the most on the blue-chip average, losing 2.2% after the computer giant's earnings. For the week, the Dow fell 0.9%. On Friday, the S&P 500 index fell 3 points to 1,071, weighed by the energy sector. The Nasdaq Composite, however, still rose fractionally on Friday, to end at 2,179 up 0.3% for the week.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.