The Week In Review
7/25-7/29/11
July 29, 2011U.S. stocks opened sharply lower and Treasury prices rallied Friday after the government said the economy grew less than forecast in the second quarter and the ongoing political drama in Washington had the nation moving nearer to default. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 108 points to 12,131. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 12 points to 1,288. The Nasdaq Composite Index lapsed 25 points to 2,740. Within the first half an hour the selling accelerated in a typical capitulation fashion. A number of disappointing earnings from the likes of Columbia Sportswear, Vistaprint, Ariba, Qlogic, KLA Tencor, Ancestory.com, Arch Coal, and Coventry Health Care are all contributing to the weakness. After the first half an hour the selling abated for a little bit as a few stocks perked up. A number of stocks are trading in the green following earnings including Chesapeake Energy, Metlife, Dole Foods, Newell Rubbermaid, Decker Outdoors, Maxim Integrated, Starbucks, and Amgen. A few other stocks are holding up as well. The defensive stocks that pay big dividends look good. Altria is up a percent on an upgrade. IBM for some reason looks good. The rest of the techs are lower. The commodities are also weak. After the first hour the President spoke causing the averages to dip again, but once he was finished, the averages rebounded a little bit with the Dow down less than 100 points. A silver lining for the moment Through the morning the averages kept improving led by the techs and financials. The Nasdaq moved into the green while the Dow made it back to the unchanged level only to reverse during the lunch hour. During the afternoon the Dow pushed back lower falling over 70 points with the Nasdaq falling back in the red. In the last hour, no rebound. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 96 points at 12,143. It lost 4.2% for the week and 2.2% for July. The S&P 500 fell 8 points to 1,292. It lost 3.9% for the week and 2.2% for the month. The Nasdaq Composite lost 9 points to 2,756. It dropped 3.6% for the week and 0.6% for the month.
July 28, 2011
U.S. stocks opened with modest gains on Thursday after the government reported weekly jobless claim fell under 400,000 for the first time since early April. Bullish sentiment, however, was curbed by the ongoing uncertainly over whether lawmakers would reach agreement to hike the U.S. debt ceiling before Tuesday's deadline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 7 points to 12,309. After a tentative rise, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped a point to 1,304. The Nasdaq Composite fell 6 points to 2,758. The reaction to earnings reports is a little better today. Today may be the heaviest day for earning reports so far. Liz Claiborne and Green Mountain Coffee are jumping 20% on earnings. Croc's is up 13%, LSI is up 14%, Ameriprise and Aflac are both up 6% after all reported solid earnings. Other stocks trading higher after reporting earnings include Whole Foods, Citrix Systems, Visa, Cabela's, Timken, Noble Energy, Bristol Myers, Potash, Wisconsin Energy, Motorola Solutions, Lazard, CME Group, DR Horton, Arctic Cat, MF Global, Pulte Group, Tyco, DuPont, and Tyco. A few stocks are trading lower following earnings including the dog of the day, Sprint. That stock is down 16%. Tech stock Akamai Software is another big loser down 18% following disappointing earnings. Time Warner Cable, Suncor Energy, Avon, Monster Worldwide, Sony, Waste Management, and Exxon Mobil are lower following earnings. Through the first hour the averages briefly sold off only to rebound. Through the morning the Dow pushed higher rising 60 points while the Nasdaq rose 30 points. In The afternoon the rally fizzled. By the last hour the Dow had given up all its' gains. The Nasdaq rose just 7 points. Frustrating. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 62 points to 12,240, with Exxon Mobil weighing down the average. It was the Dow's fifth straight session of losses. The S&P 500 lost 4 points to 1,300. The Nasdaq Composite ended up a point at 2,766.
July 27, 2011
U.S. stocks open lower for a fourth straight day as political stalemate over the nation's debt limit continues. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 66 points to 12,435. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 8 points to 1,323. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 21 points to 2,818. Plenty of earnings keep flooding in. Unfortunately, most stocks are lower following earnings including Northrop Grumman, Dr Pepper Snapple, Delta Air, Allegheny Tech, Hess, Auto Nation, Moodys, General Dynamic, Aetna, WellPoint, and TC Pipeline. Tupperware is down 10% following earnings. Networking firm, Juniper Networks is down 20% following disappointing earnings. Corning is down 6% following earnings and JDA Software is lower by 5% after earnings. Amazon is the lone bright spot in the tech slash retail space, trading up 5% on strong earnings. A few other stocks are trading up following earnings. The list includes Las Vegas Sands, DreamWorks, Norfolk Southern, Boeing, Southern Company, Ryder, Wyndham Worldwide, and Conoco Phillips. Through the morning the averages pushed lower as all eyes are on Washington. The Dow fell over 130 points before recovering a little. Boeing is the only Dow component trading up over half a percent. The Nasdaq fell 50 points as even the stalwarts like Google and Apple are trading down a percent. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remain weak. The earnings guidance for the third quarter has not been very good. Through the afternoon the selling accelerated as no buyers are willing to step in without a debt ceiling agreement. In the last hour the Dow moved to new lows for the day. Frustrating market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 198 points to 12,302. It was the worst drop for the average since June 1 and its fourth straight session of losses. The S&P 500 fell 27 points, or 2%, to 1,304. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 75 points, or 2.7%, to 2,764.
July 26, 2011
U.S. stocks opened mostly lower on Tuesday as lawmakers remain in a standoff over the federal debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 50 points to 12,541. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell nearly 2 points to 1,335. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 3 points to 2,846. Plenty of earnings keep flooding in with a lot of volatility. Stocks trading lower following earnings include Illinois Tools, UPS, JetBlue, 3M, T Rowe Price, Hershey Foods, Rogers Communication, Eastman Kodak, Patriot Coal, BP, NBT Bancorp, Jacobs, AK Steel, and Valero. All the commodity stocks are getting hit. AK Steel is down 10%, Patriot Coal is down 9%, and Valero is down 3%. Oil driller Weatherford is jumping 8% following earnings. That stock was highlighted in Barrons last weekend. Freeport McMoran and rare earth play MolyCorp are two other commodity plays trading higher. The stocks trading higher following earnings including Western Union, Radio Shack, Under Armour, Supervalu, Dominos Pizza, Lockheed Martin, Cummins, Weatherford, CIT, and Glaxo Smtih Kline. In the tech space Broadcom is jumping 10% following earnings. Baidu.com, Texas Instruments, and Lexmark are also higher following earnings. F5 Networks and Google are higher on upgrades. Apple looks good as well. In fact, after the first hour the average recovered led by the techs. The Nasdaq climbed back to the unchanged level while the Dow remained weak weighed down by a 4% decline in 3M and a 2% decline in United Tech. In the afternoon the Nasdaq moved into the green with the Dow trying to recover only to sell back off in the last hour thanks to more rhetoric out of Washington. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished lower for a third straight session, losing 91 points to 12,501. Shares of 3M led the Dow lower with a 5.4% loss. The S&P 500 fell 5 points to 1,331, led by a drop in industrials and natural-resource stocks. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2 points to 2,839.
July 25, 2011
U.S. stocks starts steeply lower on Monday as a divided U.S. Congress prepare rival budget plans. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 110 points to 12,570. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 11 points to 1,333. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 25 points to 2,833. Nothing looks particularly good this morning. On the earnings front, Kimberly Clark is unchanged following better than expected earnings. Lorillard is down 4% even though they beat estimates. All the tobacco stocks are lower. In the financial sector, Bank of Hawaii is higher after beating estimates. The rest of the financials are lower. Bank of America is down 2% back below $10 a share. E-Trade is jumping 5% on speculation they may sell out. The commodities opened lower, but were the first to rebound. The fertilizers look good as CF Industries is up 2.5% on an upgrade. Baker Hughes is lower even though profits more than tripled. Schlumberger is unchanged on an upgrade. Nucor is lower on a downgrade. In the tech sector, Apple was the first to rebound into the green followed by Microsoft. After the first half an hour the averages recovered half the losses. In the Dow, McDonalds is in the green on an upgrade. The Nasdaq is also slowly recovering. Through the morning more of the same. The Dow remained down, but only 55 points. The Nasdaq was only down 5 points as Apple, Google, and Microsoft look good. The commodities continue to recover as even a few financials like GE and Goldman peaking into the green. In the afternoon the averages remained in the red, but not by much. In the last hour the averages sold back off on news the Democrats were going to put forward a new budget debt proposal that likely will not be well received by the Republicans. Not good. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 88 points at 12,592. Shares of Boeing led the decliners, down 1.9%. The S&P 500 fell 7 points to end at 1,337. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 2,842, down 16.03 points.