Day Traders Diary

1/11/10

U.S. stocks rebounded Tuesday on earnings-related optimism and after Japan joined China in saying it plans to buy bonds issued by Europe's financial-aid fund. Snapping a three-session losing streak, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 59 points to 11,697. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 6 points to 1,276. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 13 points to 2,721. Everything looks great to start the day. The financials are all higher, led by a 3% rally in Franklin Resources. Genworth is up 3% on rumors private equity is interested in the firm. Suntrust is modestly higher on takeover rumors. Home builder, Lennar is up 3% following better than expected earnings. The commodities also look good. The fertilizers, Freeport McMoran, and Cliffs Natural Resources all look good. Alcoa is modestly lower even though it received an upgrade and beat earnings expectations last night. The stock is up 60% from the September lows. The techs are a little mixed. Google is higher after having their estimates raised. The chips look good, but the big news in tech land is the pending announcement of Verizon to carry the Apple iphone. After the first hour the averages remained strong just off the highs of the day. The retailers are struggling this morning. Talbots is the dog of the day down 17% after reporting a fourth quarter loss. Supervalu is down 11% after reporting a loss and cutting guidance. On the plus side, Sears is jumping 6% following strong earnings. CVS Caremark is modestly higher after raising their dividend. At 11 o'clock Verizon officially announced they will offer the iphone. Surprisingly, Apple and Verizon are lower. AT&T is also lower as they lose their exclusivity with Apple. Ironically, Research in Motion is trading up 2% even though many Verizon clients will trade in their blackberrys for an iphone. In the afternoon the averages remained strong trading right where they started the day. The transportation stocks all received upgrades this morning, but most are lower. The commodity and financials remain the strongest sectors. In the middle of the afternoon the averages sold off with the Dow briefly falling into the red. Verizon and AT&T are two of the weakest Dow components. In the last hour the averages recovered. Resilient market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 34 points to end at 11,671, lifted by a 2% gain in shares of Bank of America and a 1.7% advance in shares of Intel Corp. The S&P 500 index rose 4 points to 1,274. lifted by its energy and materials sectors. The Nasdaq Composite rose 9 points to 2,716.

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.