Day Traders Diary
1/25/11
U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday as investors sort through a slew of corporate earnings, including a disappointing 2011 outlook from health-care giant Johnson & Johnson. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21 points to 11,959 after closing at a two and a half year high yesterday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 3 points to 1,287. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 12 points to 2,705. This was the biggest day for earnings year to date. Most stocks are modestly lower due to profit-taking after a nice run up. The commodities are particularly weak due in part to weakness in the Chinese markets. US Steel is lower following earnings. The fertilizer stocks are weak. Freeport McMoran is down 3% as copper prices decline. The oil stocks like Peabody Energy, Baker Hughes, and Dupont are higher following earnings. In the tech space Corning is jumping 4% following earnings. Google opened lower, but then jumped 2% off the lows. Xilinx is higher on an upgrade. EMC is lower following earnings. Adobe was upgraded, but the stock is lower. The financials are lower except for Blackrock jumping 2% following earnings. Travelers is also up 2% following strong earnings. Keycorp is up 3% after beating estimates. GE is modestly higher at a new 52 week high. Regions is down 2% following earnings. The big banks like Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo are lower. In the retail space Ethan Allen, Sherwin Williams, Kimberly Clark, Harley Davidson, and Coach reported. Only Coach is lower. After the first half an hour better than expected consumer confidence numbers sent the averages back to the unchanged level, but the rally was short-lived. After the first hour the Dow fell 40 points led by a 2% drop in J&J, Alcoa, American Express, and 3M. The Nasdaq declined 12 points. Shortly after the first hour the Dow fell over 70 points before recovering in the afternoon. The financials and commodities remain weak, but the techs are improving. IBM and Corning are at new highs. Google and Apple look good. Resilient market. In the last hour the averages sold off, then quickly rallied to the unchanged level thanks to some erroneous trades in IBM, then sell off once again, only to rebound into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3 points to 11,977. The broad S&P 500 index rose 34 cents to 1,291 with a 1% advance in the telecom sector. The Nasdaq Composite rose a point to 2,719.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.