The Week In Review
9/5-9/9/11
Sept 9, 2011U.S. stocks opened sharply lower on Friday after Reuters reported that European Central Bank Governing Council member Juergen Stark would resign amid disputes over the central bank's bond-buying program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 178 points to 11,117. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 16 points to 1,169. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 28 points to 2,501. Investors are in a selling mood as the President did little to spark any confidence following his speech. The financials and commodities are leading the markets lower. Bank of America is looking to lay off 40,000 workers. Sallie Mae is one of the few financials higher on an upgrade. Goldman Sachs is modestly higher on no news. In the retail space, Kroger and Lulu Lemon are lower on downgrades. McDonalds is down 4% after reporting good global sales numbers. The stock has performed great of late. Ford is lower on cautious comments about auto sales. Best Buy is higher even though one analyst made cautious comments. The one sector showing a little life is the techs. Apple is performing well as sales continue to cook. Texas Instruments lowered guidance last night however, the stock is up nearly 2%. Intel opened lower, but rebounded into the green. Micron is also in the green, but the rest of the chips are not reacting. The semiconductor equipments makers like Applied Materials and KLA Tencor are up 2% on upgrades. Through the first hour the averages dipped lower only to rebound with a few more stocks moving into the green. Unfortunately, the rebound didn't last. Heading into the lunch hour the Dow fell 300 points. The Nasdaq dropped 55 points. Investors are sending a clear signal that the President's plan is not going to help the economy much and the European credit problems are getting much worse. In the afternoon the averages remained weak with plenty of stocks in particular financials making new 52 week lows. The only good news is hopefully we're getting closer to a resolution. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 303, or 2.7%, at 10,992, its worst day since Aug. 18 and first close below 11,000 since Aug. 22. The S&P 500 fell 31 points, or 2.7%, to 1,154. The Nasdaq Composite fell 61 points, or 2.4%, to 2,467. For the week, the Dow lost 2.2%; the S&P 500 fell 1.7%; and the Nasdaq Composite edged back 0.5%.
Sept 8, 2011
U.S. stocks started lower Thursday after a report showed first-time applicants for jobless benefits climbed last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29 points to 11,385. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 3 points to 1,194. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped a point to 2,547. The initial weakness did not last as money rotated into tech stocks. Research in Motion, Cisco Systems, and Juniper Networks are all higher on positive analyst comments. Microsoft is modestly higher as one analyst speculated that the software giant could hike their dividend. The chips are higher once again. One of the few techs lower is Corning on cautious comments on the quarter. The commodity space is also performing well in particular the fertilizers. Agrium is trading up 1.6%. The oils look good. Exxon Mobil is higher on an upgrade with a $90 price target. Hess is up 2% after announcing a small acquisition. The one sector that can't seem to get going is the financials. Rumors of Goldman Sachs splitting up are not helping that stock. Through the first hour the averages rebounded into the green only to sell off again. Through the morning the averages rebounded once again with the Dow jumping 50 points only to fall back into the red by the lunch hour. We're in a yo-yo effect awaiting the President's speech tonight. In the afternoon the Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke spoke providing no new clues to any monetary initiatives. The major averages didn't like this, pushing to new lows for the day. The Dow fell 90 points while the Nasdaq dropped 16 points. A select number of techs and defensive stocks within the Dow remain in the green. In the last hour the averages pushed lower as investors seem to have no confidence in the President's speech tonight. The only silver lining was volume was low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 119 points at 11,295. The S&P 500 lost 12 points, or 1.1%, to 1,185. The Nasdaq Composite eased 19 points to 2,529.
Sept 7, 2011
U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday on reports President Barack Obama would propose a $300 billion package to boost jobs. A German court ruling upholding the country's involvement in bailing out the nation's struggling neighbors also bolstered sentiment. After a three day losing streak, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened higher by 120 points to 11,259. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 14 points to 1,179. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 35 points to 2,508. Plenty of news hitting the markets this morning. First the firings. Yahoo is up 6% after firing their CEO. Bank of America is up 4% after shaking up their top management team. All the financials are trading higher this morning for once. UBS is up 3% on an upgrade. Capital One is up 4% on an upgrade. On the merger front, Walter Energy is jumping 26% on takeover rumors. Conoco Phillips and Chevron are higher on positive comments. In the tech space, the chips look good. Nvidia is jumping 5% after they raised their quarterly guidance. Altera initially traded lower last night following their guidance, but has turned around this morning. Micron, AMD, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, and Intel all look good. Research in Motion is one of the few techs trading lower. During the first hour the averages improved only to fall back to where they started the day. In the retail space, Darden Restaurant is down 3% following earnings. Urban Outfitters is also lower after issuing weaker guidance in their 10-Q. Dicks and William Sonoma are higher on upgrades. Talbots missed earnings estimates, but the stock is higher. Office Max lowered guidance, but the stock is jumping 5%. Go figure. Pep Boys is up 5% following earnings. GM is jumping 4% on an upgrade. So far so good this morning. Through the morning the averages remained strong making new highs in the afternoon. Comments in the Beige book at 2 o'clock sent the averages to new highs, even though the economic news remains bleak. In the last hour the averages kept improving. It looks like the first up day for the month of September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 275 points, or 2.5%, at 11,414. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 33 points, or 2.9%, to 1,198. The Nasdaq Composite Index tacked on 75 points, or 3%, to end at 2,548.
Sept 6, 2011
U.S. stocks fell sharply Tuesday as worries about European debt and the U.S. economy intensified. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a quick 275 points to 10,965. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 29 points to 1,144. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 56 points to 2,423. Things keep going from bad to worse. Plenty of downgrades this morning as the first three days of September have been the worse in history. The financial sector was downgraded as they can't seem to catch a break. As mentioned on Friday a government division, the FHFA is suing 17 major banks for their mortgage practices. So the Federal government tells the banks to raise capital and then another division sues them for that money. As a result, the banks could easily pull back their lending causing a weak economy to get worse. Bank of America is down 5% leading the charge lower. BB&T and Deutsche Bank were both upgraded, but both are lower. In fact, Deutsche Bank is down 9%. The techs are weak this morning. Apple is only down a percent even though it was upgraded. AOL is down a percent even though it was upgraded saying their fair value is 100% above current levels. Fairchild Semi is actually up a percent even though they lowered guidance. Dell and Baidu.com announced a collaborative agreement. Sounds like good news, but both stocks are lower. The commodities are obviously weak even though Jefferies reiterated buys on a number of firms like Alcoa, Freeport McMoran, and Arch Coal. At 10 o'clock, a better than expected manufacturing number lifted the averages a little bit. But the rebound didn't last. Through the morning the averages moved back down with the Dow falling nearly 300 points only to rebound again into the lunch hour. A few, and I mean a very few, stocks are in the green. Research in Motion is now higher by a percent. Another tech, AOL is now in the green. Pfizer is the only Dow component in the green. One financial, Fifth Third is up 1.5% on an upgrade, impressive. In the afternoon the averages kept slowly improving. A few more stocks popped into the green. Apple turned around nicely now up 1% for the day. In the last hour the averages kept improving due in part to comments out of Washington regarding what the President will say Thursday night. Hopefully, he has a silver bullet. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 100 points at 11,139. The S&P 500 ended down 8 points at 1,165. The Nasdaq Composite lost 6 points to 2,473.
Sept 5, 2011
Closed for Labor Day.