The Week In Review
5/9-5/13/11
May 13, 2011Today is Triskaidekaphobia, the fear of the number 13 particularly on Fridays. U.S. stocks wobble at the start after a report showing the cost of living climbed in April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4 points to 12,687. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell nearly a point to 1,347. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 7 points to 2,855. Earnings keep coming in, but the stocks are no longer rallying on the news. Nvidia, CA Tech, Sunpower, and Nordstrom are lower following earnings. Norstrom is lower, but the rest of the retail sector looks good. Dean Foods is jumping 9% on an upgrade. Dillard is up 13% after easily beating estimates. Foot Locker and AnnTaylor are also higher thanks to upgrades. The techs and financials are showing no life. Nvidia is down 8% following earnings, dragging most chip stocks lower. Cypress Semi is one of the few trading higher after initiating a dividend. Agilent Tech is up 9% after beating estimates. After the first half an hour the averages pushed lower, but volume is light. Lackluster morning. Through the morning the averages recovered led by a less than one percent rally in the commodities. However, heading into the lunch hour the averages took another hit led by weakness in techs. During the lunch hour the averages took another dive on news Osama Bin Laden wanted to kill President Obama. A terrorist wanted to kill our president, like that's news. In the afternoon the averages remained weak, but off the lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 100 points at 12,595. The S&P 500 Index shed nearly 11 points to 1,337 while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell more than 34 points, or 1.2%, to close at 2,828. For the week, the Dow declined 0.3%, the S&P gave up just 0.2%, and the Nasdaq gained a point.
May 12, 2011
U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday after a slate of U.S. economic reports and disappointing earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 48 points at 12,581. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 5 points to 1,336. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 17 points to 2,827. On the earnings front Cisco Systems easily beat estimates, however following the conference call, the stock dropped 5% on disappointing guidance. Tim Hortons and Canadian Solar are lower as well following earnings. Symantec is one of the few techs trading up following earnings. Seagate and Dell were upgraded, but the stocks are lower. Chinese Internet company Sina is up 4% on an upgrade. The commodities continue to push lower. Transocean was upgraded this morning, but the stock is lower. The rare earth stocks like Molycorp remain weak. The financials are weak once again. Goldman Sachs is down 2% on a downgrade due to possible Department of Justice actions toward the investment bank. Hartford opened higher on comments they are considering selling their mutual fund business. The retail space is the one sector showing some life this morning. Kohls is up 2% following earnings and a boost in guidance. Hershey Foods and General Mills are higher on positive comments. Tyson Foods is up 2% after announcing a share buyback. During the first hour the Dow fell 90 points before recovering. The Nasdaq fell 25 points before recovering. Through the morning the averages continued to recover with the Nasdaq sneaking into the green led by techs. In the afternoon the rally accelerated with all three averages moving into the green. Within the tech sector IBM, Intel, and Corning look good. A number of commodities turned around except for the fertilizers. In the last hour the averages held their gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 65 points at 12,695. The S&P 500 gained 6 points to 1,348. The Nasdaq Composite gained 17 points to 2,863.
May 11, 2011
U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday, retreating after a three-day rise, with commodities falling after data showed Chinese inflation remained elevated, prompting thoughts of more monetary tightening that could tame demand. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 54 points to 12,706 with component Walt Disney sliding 5.2% a day after the theme-park operator reported a quarterly profit below expectations. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 4 points to 1,352. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 3 points to 2,868. A few more companies reported earnings last night and this morning. Disney, Molycorp, McDermott, MBIA, and Arcelor Mittal are lower following earnings. Macys is one of the few trading higher following earnings. The commodity space continues to correct. Nothing looks good in that sector. Potash was upgraded, but the stock is lower. The financials are back down after a one day rally. Credit Suisse was upgraded, but the stock is lower. The techs for the most part are lower. Research in Motion keeps pushing lower this time on a downgrade. The stock is down 37% from the March highs. The lone shining star within techs is Intel. After reporting spectacular earnings in April, Intel just raised their dividend for the third time in the last year and a half. Through the morning the averages pushed lower led by the commodities. The Dow dropped 80 points while the Nasdaq declined 7 points. As bad as the market looks, at least you're not going to jail. The jury in the insider trading case against Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam found him guilty on all 14 counts this morning. During the lunch hour the selling accelerated with the Dow falling over 150 points led by commodities. In the afternoon the averages pushed lower with the Dow falling 180 points before recovering a little in the last hour. The Nasdaq fell over 40 points before rebounding in the last hour. Intel remained in positive territory while Cisco Systems is unchanged ahead of earnings tonight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 130 points at 12,630, led by a 5.4% drop in Walt Disney shares. The S&P 500 fell 15 points, or 1.1%, to 1,342, led by a 2.9% drop in energy stocks. The Nasdaq Composite lost 26 points, or 0.9%, to 2,845.
May 10, 2011
U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, extending gains into a third day, after Microsoft said it would buy Internet phone company Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 27 points to 12,712. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2 points to 1,349. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 7 points to 2,850. The averages continue to rebound following last week's correction. The earnings are becoming fewer and fewer. Activision Blizzard, Stifel Financial, Financial Engines, and Blackboard are trading lower following earnings. Both Dean Foods and Fossil are rallying 10% following earnings. The commodity space opened higher, but sold off shortly after the open. The rare earth stocks are getting hit. Molycorp reports earnings tonight. The financials for once are trading higher. In the tech space, the old techs like Cisco Systems, IBM, Intel, and HP are higher. Google is also higher, but Apple is lower. Microsoft is down a percent as some think they spent too much for Skype. Ebay is up 2% as they still own a stake in Skype. Through the morning the averages improved with the Dow rising 50 points and the Nasdaq rising 17 points. In the afternoon the averages moved sideways still near the highs of the day. Heading into the last hour the averages picked up with the Dow rising 70 points and the Nasdaq rising 24 points. A number of techs improved moving into the green, but the commodities remained weak. In the last hour the Dow rose as much as 90 points before pulling back. The Nasdaq held on to its' gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 75 points at 12,760, with IBM leading point gains. The S&P 500 rose 10 points to 1,357. The Nasdaq Composite gained 28 or 1.01%, to 2,871.
May 9, 2011
U.S. stocks opened mildly higher on Monday as commodities bounced back from last week's rout. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14 points to 12,653. McDonalds is up a percent on better than expected The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 2 points to 1,342. The Nasdaq Composite added a point to 2,829. The earnings season is winding down. Sysco the food company is trading up smartly thanks to better than expected earnings. Commodity play Silver Wheaton is higher following earnings. The commodity space in general is trading higher. Noble Corp and Diamond Offshore are higher following strong upgrades. Two commodity companies Louisiana Pacific and Dynegy are down over 2% following earnings. Tyson Foods is lower by 4% following earnings. One deal so far announced this Monday morning. Dollar Thrifty is jumping 12% after Hertz made a $2 billion offer to buy the car company. Hertz is also higher. The tech space is quiet this morning. Apple and Corning are trading higher. HP is higher after signing a $500 million business contract in Australia. Amazon and Priceline are higher on upgrades. Cisco is lower on a downgrade. The financials keep pushing lower. No bounce in them. After the first hour the rally had fizzled. Only a select number of techs and commodities are trading higher. Through the morning the averages recovered led by commodities and techs. The Goldman Sachs commodity analyst that called for the commodity sell off over a week ago is now tempering his comments indicating that the sell off is now providing a buying opportunity long term. Heading into the noon hour and during the lunch hour the averages accelerated to the upside. The Dow rose 60 points led by Caterpillar, DuPont, and McDonalds. The Nasdaq rose 18 points. In the afternoon the averages remained in the green, but off the highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 45 points to end at 12,684. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 6 points to finish at 1,346. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 15 points to close at 2,843.