Day Traders Diary

12/31/10

U.S. stock indexes opened lower on Friday as investors opted for taking profits in wrapping up a strong year of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9 points to 11,560. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined a point to 1,256. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 3 points to 2,659. Very little news to end the year. The recent highflying stocks like rare earth metals, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Priceline, Netflix, F5 Networks, and Decker Outdoors are all lower. The commodities opened modestly lower, but then the US dollar dropped allowing the commodity stocks to improve. The financials opened lower, but then rebounded. The techs are modestly lower. After the first hour the averages remained in the red with the Dow down 15 points and the Nasdaq down 10 points. The diamond of the day goes to Imax up over 10% on rumors of a takeover from Sony or possibly Disney. Imax's stock is up 150% from the July lows. Not bad. Through the morning the Dow improved, moving into the green led by the financials. The commodities also look good. The techs and the Nasdaq remain stuck in the red. In the afternoon more of the same. The financials and commodities look good. Everything else is going nowhere. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 7 points at 11,577, less than 10 points below a two-year high it reached on Wednesday. The Dow jumped 5.2% in December and rose 11% for the year. The S&P 500 index fell 24 cents to 1,257. The broad index still jumped 6.5% for the month and rose 12.8% in 2010. The Nasdaq Composite fell 10 points to 2,652 today, leaving it with 6.2% advance in December and a 16.9% gain for the year. Happy New Year.

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