The Week In Review
6/6-6/10/11
June 10, 2011U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday, with the benchmark indexes headed towards a sixth consecutive week of losses. Wall Street's extended slide has come amid economic reports that have largely disappointed investors worried about the pace of the recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 80 points to 12,043. The S&P 500 Index declined 8 points to 1,280. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 13 points to 2,671. A one day rally and then back to selling. A Dow component, Travelers is down 3% after issuing a statement that they will report a loss due to a billion dollars is costs related to all the spring storms. The company is also halting their share buyback. All the insurance stocks and financials are lower. They can't muster more than a one day rally. AIG was upgraded, but the stock is lower. The techs are all lower. Micron and HP received encouraging analyst comments, but both stocks are lower. Research in Motion is down 2% on a downgrade. Even Apple is lower. The best looking chip stock is NSM unchanged following earnings last night. The commodities opened unchanged, but then fell Into the red. Molycorp is higher after pricing their stock offering. In the retail space, Lululemon may be the diamond up 5% thanks to earnings. Under Armour is higher on an upgrade. Smuckers was upgraded, but the stock is lower. Zales is down 9% on a downgrade. After the first hour the Dow fell over 100 points touching 12000. The Nasdaq declined 25 points. Through the morning the averages pushed lower with very few stocks in the green. During the lunch hour the averages tried to rally only to sell off once again with the Dow dropping 180 points. By the middle of the afternoon the averages recovered a little bit led by financials. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs were all down 2% are now up a percent. In the last hour, however, the sellers came back. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 172 points, or 1.4%, at 11,951, led by 3% drops in Pfizer and Travelers. The S&P 500 lost 18 points, or 1.4%, to 1,270, with energy stocks off the most after oil prices fell nearly 3%. The Nasdaq Composite declined 41 points, or 1.5%, to 2,643. For the week, the Dow average has lost 1.6%, the S&P 500 has fallen 2.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite has fallen 3.3%. For the Dow and the S&P 500, it was the sixth straight week of losses.
June 9, 2011
The U.S. stock market opened mostly higher on Thursday, bouncing back after Wall Street's longest losing stretch this year, as investors welcomed a report showing the U.S. trade gap narrowed in April. "The lower-than-expected deficit may lead to a rise in second-quarter GDP estimates of up to 0.4%," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22 points to 12,071. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added a point to 1,281. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 2 points to 2,673. Not much news to start the day. Mens Wearhouse, Smuckers, and Vail Resorts are up over 2% following earnings. The commodities look good this morning. The fertilizer stocks are strong thanks to encouraging industry data. The financials are higher this morning. Morgan Stanley was downgraded, yet the stock is higher. AIG is up 3% on two upgrades. Penson Worldwide is higher, calming fears of collateral issues following a loss they had to eat from one of their board of directors. In the tech sector Texas Instruments dropped 4% after hours last night on a mid-quarter update, however, this morning the stock recovered all those losses, trading up a percent. That's a good sign. Apple is higher on positive analyst comments. Research in Motion is one of the few techs lower on a downgrade. That stock can't seem to get a break. After the first hour the averages improved with the Dow rising 60 points and the Nasdaq inching up 6 points. Through the morning the morning the averages kept improving with the Dow rising over a 100 points and the Nasdaq inching up 14 points. The financials still look good for once. In the afternoon the averages remained strong with the Dow rising as much as 134 points. However in the last hour the sellers came back in wiping out half the gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended its' six-straight losing session, rising 75 points to close at 12,124. The S&P 500 Index rose 9 points to 1289 while the Nasdaq Composite Index rallied 9 points to close at 2,684.
June 8, 2011
U.S. stocks edged up after a lower start on Wednesday, a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy did not grow as much as had been hoped this year. Erasing its drop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3 points to 12,074. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index opened flat at 1,285. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 6 points to 2,695. The news doesn't seem to be getting any better. Ciena is down 13% after missing estimates. The techs in general are weak. Oppenheimer made cautious comments on Research in Motion ahead of earnings next week. The stock is not reacting much. Marvell is lower even though it received an upgrade. Ebay is one of the few techs higher on an upgrade. The commodities are weak this morning. Exxon Mobil is bucking the trend up 2% after a big oil discovery in the Gulf. Solar company, LDK Solar is down 3% after reporting earnings last night. SunPower is higher even though it was downgraded this morning. Molycorp is down 8% after issuing more shares. The financials are bouncing a little, but no real conviction there. Frustrated with their stock price, Wells Fargo made comments that their stock is on sale and that they would be using their $200 million allotment to buy their stock back. But the stock is only modestly higher. Franklin Resources, Jefferies, Raymond James Financial, and Knight Trading are modestly higher on upgrades. Capital One is also higher on takeover rumors. Visa and MasterCard are lower pending a Senate vote regarding new credit card rules. Through the morning the averages remained in the red with the financials modestly in the green. No buyers what-so-ever out there. In the retail space Bob Evans is jumping 10% even though they missed estimates. Gap is lower after making cautious comments about business and rising costs. Through the morning the price of oil jumped as talking within OPEC to increase production broke down. Most oil related stocks are now in the green. Caterpillar raised their dividend and reaffirmed earnings, but the stock remains in the red. Target also raised their dividend. In the afternoon the averages momentarily stopped selling off on encouraging data out of the Beige Book report. However, in the last hour, the selling accelerated with few stocks left in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 21 points at 12,048, led by more than 1% drops in Caterpillar, Alcoa and American Express. It was the Dow's longest losing stretch since July. The S&P 500 ended down 5 points at 1,279, led by drops in materials and financial sectors. The Nasdaq Composite fell 26 points, or 1%, to 2,675.
June 7, 2011
U.S. stocks start higher for once, rebounding after an extended losing streak, with investors waiting to hear from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in the afternoon. The Fed chairman is expected to talk about monetary policy ahead as the central bank winds down its quantitative easing policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 55 points to 12,145. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 6 points to 1,292. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 9 points to 2,712. Everything is bouncing this morning, but we'll see how long it lasts. The financials are higher, but that's not saying much. KeyCorp is up 2% on an upgrade. Apple was upgraded following yesterdays' cloud presentation. The stock initially rallied, but then sold off. The rest of the techs don't look so good. Google rallied then sold off as well. Micron is lower on a downgrade. The other chips are modestly higher. Xilinx and Sandisk are higher thanks to upgrades. Intel looks good for some reason up over 2%. Symantec is higher on an upgrade. The commodities are rebounding, but don't look spectacular. Halliburton is higher on an upgrade. One commodity lower is Cliffs Natural Resources after announcing they will issue 9 million shares to raise money to expand business and pare down debt. The stock is down a percent. Through the morning the averages slowly improved ahead of Bernanke's afternoon speech. In the retail space, Tiffany's is up over 2% on M&A speculation. Talbots is dropping 32% following earnings and a disappointing outlook. Temple Inland is jumping 40% on a hostile takeover offer from International Paper. In the afternoon the averages continued to rise with the Dow jumping 80 points. However, the rally didn't last. In the last hour the averages pulled back particularly after Fed Chairman Bernanke began to speak. Two former blue chips Bank of America and Cisco made new 52 week lows. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 19 points at 12,070. The S&P 500 gave up broad gains to end down a point to 1,284. The Nasdaq Composite fell a point to 2,701.
June 6, 2011
U.S. stocks were off to a shaky start on Monday after five straight weeks of losses, maintaining just above its April low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 5 points to 12,146. The Standard & Poor's 500 dipped a point to 1,299. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 2 points to 2,735. A few bright spots within the tech and commodity sectors this morning. Apple is higher ahead of their conference later today. The other big cap techs are modestly higher. Red Hat is higher on an upgrade. An analyst made positive comments on Texas Instruments, however, the stock is not reacting. In the commodity space, Cliffs Natural Resources is higher after one analyst reiterated guidance. Freeport McMoran is also higher. The financials in a word are awful. The sector is down over a percent heading toward a 52 week low. Bank of America is pennies from a new low. Stifel Financial is one of the few financials higher on an upgrade. After the first hour the averages pushed lower with only the techs and a select number of commodities trading higher. Through the morning the averages remained stuck in the red, but not down much. In the retail space American Eagle and Gap are modestly higher on upgrades. Harley Davidson is up 3% on rumors of a takeover. The financials aren't getting any better. Bank of America is down 3.5% at a new 52 week low. Even Apple sold off following their cloud conference. In the last hour the averages sold off with the Dow dropping 80 points only to recover a little into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 61 points at 12,089. The S&P 500 dropped 13 points to 1286 while the Nasdaq declined 30 points to 2702. Another down day.