The Week In Review
7/18-7/22/11
July 22, 2011U.S. stocks struggled Friday after a mostly lower start as Wall Street stumbled over equipment maker Caterpillar lower-than-expected quarterly earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4 points to 12,718, with component Caterpillar down 6.4%. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose a point to 1,344. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 9 points to 2,844. The earnings kept flooding in. In the tech sector AMD, Western Digital, and Sandisk are all up over 8% this morning. NCR is up 2% after beating estimates. HPQ is jumping 2% after announcing an additional $10 billion share buyback. Intel is higher on positive comments in the financial papers. IBM inched higher to another new 52 week high. Google and Apple look good of course. The financials are quiet this morning. GE is higher after beating estimates. Blackstone is up 2% on an upgrade. Sallie Mae is also higher on an upgrade. East Group is modestly higher following earnings. Suntrust is unchanged following earnings. Through the first hour the averages unraveled falling into the red as the US dollar rallied. An explosion in Norway at a government building isn't helping things as well. A number of stocks are trading lower following earnings besides Caterpillar. Verizon, Reynolds American, and Honeywell are lower as well by at least 3%. After the first hour the Dow fell 70 points while the Nasdaq declined 2 points. The commodities look good. The fertilizers are higher. Schlumberger is up 2% following earnings. Through the morning the averages recovered. The Nasdaq moved back into the green thanks to the big cap techs. The Dow recovered half its loses, but Caterpillar and Verizon remain big drags on the Dow. Verizon is down, not due to their earnings, but more to do with their CEO stepping down effective the end of the month. In the last hour nothing changed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 43 points at 12681, but up 1.6% for the week. The S&P 500 Index finished up a point at 1345 and up 2.2% on the week. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 24 points or nearly 1% at 2858. For the week the tech laden index rose 2.5%.
July 21, 2011
U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday as Morgan Stanley's less-than-expected quarterly loss raised hopes for hard-hit financial companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 34 points to 12,606. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 5 points to 1,331 with financials leading gains among its 10 industry groups. Erasing gains, the Nasdaq Composite slid 5 points to 2,808. Earnings galore this morning led by financials for a second straight day. Morgan Stanley is leading the charge up 5% following earnings. Blackstone, American Express, Raymond James, First Niagara, Fifth Third, and BB&T are higher following earnings. A couple financials are lower including Genworth down 17%. Not a good report. Janus is down 4%. The techs are up, but not the ones reporting earnings. Seagate is down 16%, Cirrus Logic is down 9%, F5 Networks is down 8%, Ebay is down 4%, and Intel and Qualcomm are down a percent. Xilinx and Cypress Semi are two techs trading up following earnings. Google, Apple, and IBM look good. The commodities look good. Freeport McMoran and Nucor are higher following earnings. The fertilizers and oil stocks look good. The oil drillers, on the other hand, are particularly weak. Diamond Offshore is lower by 4% following earnings. After the first hour the averages pushed higher with the Dow jumping 150 points and the Nasdaq rising 26 points. Other blue chips trading higher following earnings include NY Times, William Sonoma, Union Pacific, AT&T, UAL, Baxter, VF Corp, Phillip Morris, Eli Lilly, and Travelers. A real bull market. In the afternoon the averages remained strong with encouraging news out of the European Union regarding news of a broadening financial aid package for Greece. Also our own government seems to be getting closer to a debt settlement. Suddenly the news is all coming in better than expected. In the last hour the averages remained strong with rare earth metal play, Molycorp jumping 5% onto the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 152 points, or 1.2%, at 12,724 with all but Intel ending higher. The S&P 500 gained 17 points, or 1.4%, to 1,343 with a 2.5% rise in financials leading gains in all 10 sectors. The Nasdaq Composite added 20 points, or 0.7%, to 2,834.
July 20, 2011
U.S. stocks opened with mild gains on Wednesday as earnings from the likes of Apple are bolstering sentiment that corporate America is faring better than expected regardless of other economic headwinds. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3 points to 12,584. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2 points to 1,329 while the Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 4 points to 2,831. The list of earnings is long. At the top of the list is Apple up 3% at new all time highs. That company couldn't be doing any better. EMC, Intuitive Surgical, and VMware are also higher following earnings. The rest of the techs are struggling. Altera, Yahoo, and Riverbed Tech are all lower following earnings. Riverbed is down 23%. The haves and the have nots. The commodity sector is also struggling today after a nice run up yesterday. Surprisingly, the best sector today is the financials. Piper Jaffray is jumping 14% following earnings. Hudson City Banc, Blackrock, Northern Trust, and M&T Bank are higher following earnings. Keycorp is higher on an upgrade. E-trade is jumping 14% on news one of their largest shareholders is urging the company to sell out. Goldman Sachs and Bank of America both look good after making new lows yesterday. PNC is modestly lower following earnings. Through the morning the averages dipped further into the red. The financials are the lone standout to the upside. In the afternoon the averages remained stuck in the red. The financials remain the best performing sector. Apple remained strong, but off its high. Intel dipped into the red ahead of earnings after the close. In the last hour, no changes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 15 points at 12,571 after scoring its best session of the year on Tuesday. The S&P 500 fell 89 cents to end at 1,325 while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 2,814 down 12 points.
July 19, 2011
U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday, a day after strong quarterly results from Dow component International Business Machines. A sharp rise in housing starts also supported investor optimism a day after a rout on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 116 points to 12,502. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 12 points to 1,317. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 38 points to 2,803. The earnings are coming in much better than expected. IBM is up 4% to a new all time high leading the techs higher. Apple also made a new all time high this morning ahead of earnings tonight. The chips look good. Intel is up 2% ahead of earnings tomorrow. AMD is up 4% on an upgrade. The commodities look great. Mosaic is up 4% following earnings last night lifting all the fertilizers. The oil stocks look good. Halliburton is up 3% on an upgrade. Cliffs Natural Resources and Freeport McMoran also look great. The one sector that can't get out of its' own way is the financials. Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are at new 52 week lows following disappointing earnings. Zions Bancorp is lower after missing estimates. State Street and TD Ameritrade are also lower following earnings. Wells Fargo is one bright spot up 4% after beating estimates. Bank of NY and KeyCorp are higher following earnings. Annaly Mortgage is modestly higher on an upgrade. In the retail space Harley Davidson is jumping 10% following strong earnings. Ford is also higher on an upgrade. Coke is up 3% after beating estimates. Netflix is up 2% following a couple of upgrades. Through the first hour the Dow rose 125 points. The Nasdaq rose 47 points. The markets look good if only we could get the financials to participate. Through the morning the averages pulled back from the highs as more stocks dipped into the red. The financials are only getting worse. In the afternoon the averages reaccelerated with the Dow jumping 180 points and the Nasdaq remained strong up 50 points thanks to encouraging comments out of Washington that the Congressman are getting closer to a debt ceiling agreement. The commodities and techs are leading the charge with the financials continuing to lag. In the last hour the averages held their gains actually improving a little bit with the Dow topping 200 points thanks to a 5% jump in IBM's shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 202 points at 12,587. The price-weighted index was boosted by a $9.93, or 5.7% rise, in IBM's stock. Tech stocks also lifted the Nasdaq Composite with a 61 point rally or 2.2%, to close at 2,826, its best day since October. The S&P 500 ended up 21 points, or 1.6%, at 1,326.
July 18, 2011
U.S. stocks started sharply lower, the first day of a busy week of earnings, as investors fret about Europe's troubles and the debate over lifting the U.S. debt ceiling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a quick 70 points to 12,409. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 5 points to 1,310. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 8 points to 2,780. Every sector is weak this morning. In the tech space Sandisk, Linkin, and Netflix are lower on downgrades. VMware, F5 Networks, and Intel are modestly higher on upgrades. Ebay was upgraded, but the stock is modestly lower. Apple and Google are modesty higher. Apple reports later this week while Google reported spectacular earnings last week. The commodities in general are lower. Halliburton is modestly higher after beating estimates. Freeport McMoran is modestly higher, but that's about it for the sector. Kodiak Oil and Gas is lower after announcing they will issue more shares. The financials remain the weakest link. Bank of America is at a new 52 week low. Allstate is down 4% on a downgrade. The European banks look awful. Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse are both down over 4% on European concerns. Through the first hour the averages pushed lower with the Dow dropping 150 points and the Nasdaq declining 33 points. On the earnings front, Hasbro is down 4% following better than expected numbers. News Corp is down 2% after one of their top editors was arrested over the email hacking scandal. That's not good. As the morning progressed the averages did not improve. Apple is one of the few stocks trading higher actually making a new 52 week and all time high, but that's it for the good news. IBM was higher, but has since fallen into the red ahead of earnings tonight. Tomorrow a number of other big cap techs report including Apple, Yahoo, and VMware. The big banks like Bank of America and Goldman Sachs report tomorrow. Hopefully they can turn around that sector which is getting slaughtered today. In the afternoon the averages remained weak bouncing off the lows in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 94 points at 12,385 led by a 2.8% pullback in Bank of America. Only Chevron closed higher on the 30-member index. The S&P 500 slipped 10 points to 1,305 led by a 1.4% drop in its financials index. The Nasdaq Composite lost 24 points to 2,765. The dollar index strengthened to 75.37 and gold futures closed at a record $1,602.40 an ounce.