The Week In Review
6/27-7/1/11
July 1, 2011U.S. stocks opened slightly lower to start July and the third quarter following a four day, 4% rally to end the month of June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3 points to 12,410. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined a point to 1,318. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed nearly 2 points to 2,771. An initial sell off on the open, didn't last as the averages rebounded ahead of a national manufacturing number. The techs and financials look good while the commodities are under pressure. At 10 o'clock, the averages got a nice boost thanks to a strong manufacturing data for a second consecutive day. The Dow jumped a quick 80 points while the Nasdaq rose 16 points. The techs and financials look good while the commodities are trying to recover. Freeport is modestly higher thanks to an upgrade and a $70 price target. Marathon Petroleum is jumping 3% on an upgrade. On the earnings front, Christopher & Banks is up 13% after beating estimates. Education firm, Apollo Group is jumping 7% after beating estimates. Everything is working this week. After the first hour the Dow rose over 130 points while the Nasdaq rose 30 points. Money is rotating back into the equities. That's a good thing. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages quieted down moving sideways to slightly higher. In the last hour the averages kept grinding higher. What a week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 168 points, or 1.4%, to 12,582, up 5.4% for the week. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 19 points, or 1.4%, to 1,339, up 5.6% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 42 points, or 1.5%, to 2,816, up 6.2% from a week-ago. Crazy, crazy, week.
June 30, 2011
U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Thursday as portfolio positioning moves on the final day of the second quarter trumped economic data, which had the government reporting a 12th straight week of jobless claims above 400,000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47 points to 12,309. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 3 points to 1,310. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 11 points to 2,752. On the earnings front, Worthington Industries is jumping 8% following better than expected earnings and a hike in the dividend. Callaway Golf is down 3% on disappointing earnings and lowered guidance. At 9:45am, a strong than expected manufacturing number sent the averages higher. The Dow jumped 100 points led by industrials, commodities, and techs. In the tech space, all the blue chips are up. Intel is up 2.5% even though one analyst put a hold rating on the stock. Yahoo, Riverbed Tech, and Qualcomm are higher on upgrades. Juniper Networks was downgraded, but the stock is higher. Ebay is jumping 5% thanks to an upgrade. The stock was up yesterday due to favorable debit card regulations. Visa and MasterCard are down 2% following a 10% rally yesterday on that debit card news. The financials are one of the few sectors not participating in the rally. Most analysts have come up with reports on Bank of America saying their litigation problems are not behind them yet. The stock is down 1.7%. The commodities for the most part are rallying. Monsanto is up 1.5% although the fertilizers are lower. Hess is jumping 2% on an upgrade. After the first hour the averages kept accelerating with the Dow rallying 125 points and the Nasdaq rallying 23 points. The financials and the fertilizers are not participating in the rally. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages moved sideways near the highs of the day. More stocks are inching into the green. Bank America is the weakest Dow component down 1.7%. In the last hour the averages rallied into the close to finish out the month and the quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 152 points, or 1.3%, at 12,414, leaving the blue-chip index up 0.8% for the second quarter and off 1.2% for June. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 13 points, or 1%, to 1,320, down 0.4% for the just-ended quarter and off 1.8% for the month. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 33 points, or 1.2%, to 2,773, off 0.3% for the quarter and off 2.2% for June.
June 29, 2011
U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, extending gains into a third day, as investors applauded a Bank of America settlement with mortgage holders and Greece finally voted to approve austerity measures. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23 points to 12,212. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 4 points to 1,300. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained a point to 2,730. Bank of America is up 3% even though they will be paying out $8.3 billion for mortgage back securities settlement. The big relief so far is Bank of America will not have to raise more capital. The insurance stocks like MetLife and Prudential are trading higher as they will receive money from the settlement. Citigroup is up 1.5% on an upgrade. Goldman Sachs is higher after making a new 52 week low yesterday. KB Homes is down 2% after reporting a quarterly loss. The commodities continue to perform well. Virtually all commodities are up. U.S. Steel is jumping 5% on an upgrade. Rowan was downgraded, but the stock is higher. Monsanto is up 3% following better than expected earnings. Monsanto's earnings are helping the fertilizer stocks. The techs after a big run up yesterday are quiet this morning. Through the first hour a modest pull back brought the bulls back in. After the first hour the averages were solidly in the green thanks to the financials and commodities. Through the morning the averages improved with the Dow rising 70 points. The Nasdaq is up only 13 points. Its' been a good week, although some of this rally is window dressing into the quarter end tomorrow. Heading into the last hour the averages gave up a big chunk of their gains only to rebound in the last hour. The credit card companies Visa and MasterCard jumped significantly in the last hour on news from the Fed regarding a hike in debit card fees below expectations. Ebay is also jumping due to the fact they still own the Internet company PayPal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 72 points at 12,261. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 10 points to 1,307. The Nasdaq Composite gained 11 points to 2,740.
June 28, 2011
U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, adding to the prior day's gains, on hopes a fix is in the works for Greece's debt trouble. Better than expected housing numbers are also lending support to the averages. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43 points to 12,087. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 4 points to 1,284. The Nasdaq Composite gained 10 points to 2,699. On the earnings front, Nike is jumping 7% on better than expected earnings last night. TJX is up 2% on an upgrade. Autozone is up a percent on an upgrade. The auto sector has been performing much better of late. The recent drop in oil is lending support to the retail sector. The commodity stocks are also performing well. Oil driller, Rowan is up 3% on an upgrade. The fertilizers, copper, and steel stocks are all higher. In the tech space, Apple continues its' rebound following another upgrade. Dell is up a modest 1% on positive analyst comments ahead of an analyst day. Seagate is up 2% on an upgrade. Motorola Mobility is modestly lower on a downgrade. The Chinese stocks are performing well. Youku.com and LinkedIn are jumping over 7% on positive comments. The financials opened higher, but soon succumbed to profit-taking. Western Union, MasterCard, and Visa are higher on upgrades. A REIT, East Group Properties is higher on an upgrade. Cree is up 2% on an upgrade. After the first hour the averages kept improving with the Dow rising 90 points and the Nasdaq up 19 points. The financials are one of the few sectors not participating. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remained strong with the Dow rising over 100 points. The financials are still not participating, but the commodity sector looks good. A number of techs like the chip stocks are also not participating. In the last hour the averages kept improving without the financials. Case in point, Goldman Sachs made a new 52 week low today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 145 points at 12,188. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 16 points, or 1.3%, to 1,296. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 41 points, or 1.5%, to 2,729.
June 27, 2011
U.S. stocks sputtered Monday in trying to bounce back from three days of declines after the government reported consumer spending was unchanged in May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35 points to 11,969. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 2 points to 1,270. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained nearly a point to 2,653. Early weakness quickly evaporated. The financials were the first to perk up. Over the weekend, Basel 3 regulations were introduced with restrictions not as severe as originally feared. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and PNC Financials all received position analyst comments. All three are higher. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were downgraded. Goldman is in the red. Hartford received an upgrade, but the stock is not reacting. The techs are mixed this morning. Apple and Google look good, but not much else. Cisco Systems was downgraded, but the stock is higher while Qualcomm was upgraded, but the stock is lower. The commodities are mixed. Agrium and CF Industries are higher thanks to upgrades. A number of oil stocks are higher like Chevron and Exxon Mobil. Nabors Industries is lower even though it was upgraded while Louisiana Pacific is lower even though it was upgraded. In the retail space Pepsi, Amazon, and Decker Outdoors are higher on upgrades. Trex is down a whopping 10% on a downgrade. The stock is down 30% in the last three months. Through the morning the averages slowly improved thanks to the financials. Go figure. Entering the lunch hour the Dow rose over 100 points while the Nasdaq improved by 32 points. So far so good. In the afternoon around 2 o'clock, the averages had another push higher with the Dow jumping 150 points. Kraft is the only Dow component trading lower. The Nasdaq held its' gains still up 1.5%. In the last hour the averages gave up some of their gains, but still finished with a solid return. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 108 points at 12,043 led by a 3.7% gain in Microsoft and a 3.1% rise in Bank of America. The S&P 500 gained 11 points to 1,280 with tech and consumer discretionary shares leading advances in all 10 sectors. The Nasdaq Composite rose 35 points, or 1.3%, to 2,688.