Day Traders Diary
2/4/11
U.S. stocks sputter on the open as investors mulled a largely disappointing monthly jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10 points to 12,052. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined a point to 1,305. The Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 2 points to 2,751. The averages were ready to take off with a good jobs number. But the winds were taken out of the Bull's sails after the number was released. The earnings reports keep flooding in with mixed results. Dolby, Las Vegas Sands, and Coinstar are all down over 6% following earnings. Netsuite, Clorox, Simon Property, and Constellation Energy are lower as well following earnings. NCR, Tyson, Aon, Pulte Group, Aetna, Weyerhaeuser, and Amerisource Berger are higher following earnings. Aetna is jumping 12% after beating estimates and raising their dividend. All the insurance stocks are higher, yet the rest of the financials are lower. Blackstone received an upgrade, but the stock is lower. The techs are mixed this morning. Apple looks good, but Google is lower. Autodesk, NCR, Research in Motion, and Avid Tech are all higher on upgrades. In the retail space Gamestop is up 3% after announcing a share buyback. Big Lots is jumping 4% on an upgrade. Within the first hour the averages started to sell off, but then rallied back to the unchanged level. The Bulls won't let this thing sell off. After the first hour the Dow jumped 15 points while the Nasdaq rose 8 points. Through the morning the rally fizzled with the Dow dropping back into the red. Verizon is lower even though their Verizon Iphone sold out in just 17 hours. Not bad. In the afternoon the Nasdaq improved with Apple rallying a percent. Corning looks good up 4% as the company is hosting their annual shareholder meeting today. In the last hour the Dow moved into the green no thanks to the financials which remain stuck in the red although the insurance stocks are strong. Aetna remains up 12%. This market doesn't want to go down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 29 points at 12,092 for its fifth straight day of gains. The S&P 500 added 3 points to 1,310. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 15 points at 2,769. For the week, the Dow rose 2.3%, the S&P 500 gained 2.7%, and the Nasdaq advanced 3.1%.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.