Day Traders Diary
1/6/11
U.S. stock indexes had a shaky start on Thursday as investors sorted through mixed results from retailers and weekly data on the labor front. After a four-session winning run, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4 points to 11,718. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell a point to 1,275. The Nasdaq Composite dipped a point to 2,701. Many of retailers are lower even though December sales were pretty good. Target is down 6%. Macys and Kohls are down over 2%. Este Lauder is lower even though it was upgraded. On the flip side TJX, Ross Stores, Dillards, and Pier One look great. Chipotle Mexican Grill and Cheesecake Factory are higher on upgrades. GM and Ford are at new 52 week highs. Diageo and Hershey are higher on upgrades. The financials are mixed this morning. Moodys is jumping 7% after raising their sales and profit forecasts. The big banks Bank of America and Citigroup look good this morning. Goldman Sachs is lower after having their estimates cut once again. The regional banks are higher after several received upgrades. In the tech space Apple and Google look good. Apple made another new high. Netsuite and Motorola Mobility are higher on upgrades. Netflix is lower on a downgrade. Research in Motion is down 3%. In the chip space Intel is lower while ARM Holdings is up 4% after Microsoft included their chip in their new operating software. After the first hour all the major averages moved into the green. The commodities look good. Monsanto is jumping 4% after beating earnings estimates. Exxon Mobil is at a new 52 week high on an upgrade. Freeport McMoran is one of the few commodities lower. The rare earth metals are also lower. Through the morning the selling accelerated with the Dow dropping 50 points. The Nasdaq declined only a couple of points. In the afternoon the averages slowly recovered into the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its first down day for the year, falling 25 points to 11,697. The S&P 500 lost 2 points to 1,273, with the telecom sector dropping 2.8%. The Nasdaq Composite bucked the down trend, rising 7 points to 2,709.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.