Day Traders Diary

1/19/11

U.S. stocks opened mostly lower on Wednesday, after Goldman Sachs reported a drop in earnings and housing data didn't live up to expectations. Strong results from Apple and IBM are helping boost some technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 5 points to 11,843, thanks to a 3% jump in shares of IBM. But the broad S&P 500 index fell 2 points to 1,292. The Nasdaq Composite declined 5 points to 2,760. IBM is at a new high and Apple looks good, but that's about it for the broader market. Google opened higher, but then sold off ahead of earnings tomorrow. The financials are weak following a plethora of lack-luster earnings. Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Northern Trust, State Street, Hudson City Bancorp, US Bancorp, and American Express are all lower following earnings. Hudson City is down 6%. Legg Mason is down 2% on a downgrade. Bank of New York Mellon is one of the few financials trading higher following earnings. The commodities are taking it on the chin this morning. Fertilizer firm, Mosaic is down 6% after the company Cargill said they would sell their stake in the firm. After the first hour the averages all fell into the red. The Nasdaq declined 25 points or nearly one percent. The Dow is barely negative due in large part to the 3% jumping in IBM. A number of railroad stocks like Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific received upgrades, but the stocks are lower. In the retail space American Eagle is higher on an upgrade while Lululemon is down 2% on a downgrade. UPS and FedEx are lower as well. Not many stocks in the green today. During the lunch hour the Nasdaq pushed lower while the Dow fell just 16 points. Through the afternoon the Nasdaq remained weak. The Dow just wouldn't go down, rebounding into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down12 points at 11,825, weighed by 4% drop in shares of Bank of America and more than 2% drops in shares of both American Express and JP Morgan Chase. The S&P 500 index dropped 13 points, or 1%, to 1,281, with financials and materials weighing the most. The Nasdaq Composite lost 40 points, or 1.5%, to 2,725. It was the worst percentage drop for both the S&P and the Nasdaq since November 16th.

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