Day Traders Diary
10/22/10
U.S. stocks made a shaky start to Friday's trading session, supported by some stronger earnings reports but hemmed in by caution ahead of the weekend's G-20 meetings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2 points to 11,143. The S&P 500 gained 2 points to 1,182. The Nasdaq Composite rose 6 points to 2,466. Another great week of earnings reports, but the market needs to digest these numbers before making a move higher. Honeywell and Verizon reported strong earnings, but both stocks are modestly lower. Caterpillar is modestly lower after making an $800 million acquisition. After the first hour the Dow moved lower. The banks are in the red once again, but not Bank of America for once. America Express opened higher following earnings, but is now lower. T Rowe and KeyCorp are higher after earnings. US Bancorp was upgraded, but the stock is modestly lower. The commodities are mixed. Diamond Offshore and Schlumberger are higher following earnings and an upgrade. Freeport McMoRan is lower on an upgrade and downgrade. The fertilizer stocks are mixed. In the tech sector Baidu.com is up 5% after beating estimates. IBM continues to rebound following earnings on Monday. F5 Networks is higher on an upgrade. Amazon is down a percent after earnings last night. After the first hour the Dow remained in the red while the Nasdaq was modestly higher. Even though the averages are quiet a couple of sectors are performing well. In the restaurateur sector Chipotle Mexican Grill and Cheesecake Factory are both up over 6% thanks to strong earnings. Panera Bread and Brinker International are up over 3% in sympathy. The hotel stocks are also performing well thanks to an upgrade of Starwood Hotels. The stock is jumping 2.5%. In the afternoon the averages remained quiet with the Dow in the red and the Nasdaq remaining in the green. In the last hour nothing changed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 14 points at 11,132, dragged lower by a 3.1% drop in the shares of American Express. The S&P 500 added 2 points to 1,183 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 19 points to 2,479. A choppy week yielded gains of 0.6% for the Dow, 0.6% for the S&P 500, and 0.4% for the Nasdaq Composite.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.