The Week In Review
7/23-7/27/12
July 27, 2012U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 index joining the Dow Industrials in positive turf for the week, after the leaders of Germany and France pledged to protect the euro zone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45 points to 12,933. The S&P 500 index climbed 5 points to 1,365. The Nasdaq Composite gained 8 points to 2,901. The earnings keep flooding in better than expected. The healthcare space has perked up. Amgen, Merck and Gilead Science are all higher by 3% on earnings. Coventry Health is jumping 7% on earnings. Even the HMOs are higher. In the tech space things are mixed. Netsuite and Amazon look great following earnings while Facebook, Netgear, and Qlogic are sharply lower on earnings. Apple is lower once again, but the rest of the blue chip techs look good. KLAC Tencor is higher on earnings while Maxim Integrated is higher after raising their dividend. In the retail space Deckers Outdoors and Regal Entertainment are higher on earnings while Starbucks is getting hit following earnings. Amazon traded down 10% afterhours last night on earnings however the stock is opening higher by 6% this morning for a 16% rebound from last nights' lows. The company only made a penny a share in the quarter. How do you value a company like that? Callaway is higher by 2% on in line earnings. Cabalas is higher on earnings the other day and an upgrade today. Through the first hour the averages modestly pulled back only to rebound once again. The three weakest sectors of late materials, industrials, and energy look good except for one component. In the energy space Exxon is weak, in the material space Newmont Mining is down 4% on earnings while United Tech is modestly lower in the industrial space. The financials are modestly higher except for JP Morgan. Homebuilder, Pulte Group is higher following earnings the other day and an upgrade today. Through the morning the averages held up well, rallying to new highs for the day with the Dow rallying 100 points and the Nasdaq improving by 35 points. In the middle of the afternoon the averages received another jolt thanks to comments out out Europe from Mario Draghi about possible bond buys, a rate cut, and a new LTRO program. That caused the Dow to jump another 100 points and the Nasdaq to jump 30 points. A great end of the week rally thanks to Mario Draghi. Into the close the averages pulled back, but certainly finished the week with a bang. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 187 points, or 1.5%, to 13,075, its first close above 13,000 since May 7. It rose nearly 2% for the week. The S&P 500 rose 25 points, or 1.9%, to 1,385, up 1.7% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite rose 64 points, or 2.2%, to 2,958.
July 26, 2012
U.S. stocks on Thursday opened with sizeable gains thanks in large part to comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi vowing to preserve the euro. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 233 points, or 1.9%, to 12,909. The S&P 500 index rose 22 points, or 1.7%, to 1,360. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 49, or 1.7%, to 2,903. It's a risk on day. Everything looks pretty good. The earnings from last night and this morning are also coming in better than expected. In the tech space LSI Logic, Akamai and Western Digital are up over 15% on earnings. Marvell is jumping 4% on an upgrade. TO the downside, Zynga is a dog down 39% on dismal earnings. Facebook is down 6% in sympathy. The retailers continue to shine. Cabela's and Croc's are up 14% on earnings. Tractor Supply is higher by 12% on earnings. Cheesecake Factory and Whole Foods are jumping 9% on earnings. Hershey Foods, Colgate Palmolive, Shutterfly, Artic Cat, and Bunge are also higher on earnings. Las Vegas Sands, Royal Caribbean, and Dr. Pepper Snapple are lower on earnings. In the industrial space United Tech and 3M are higher on earnings. The energy space also looks good thanks to better than expected earnings from Exxon Mobil. The financial space looks good this morning. KBR Group is jumping 10% on earnings. Invesco is higher by 4% on earnings. CME Group is higher as well on earnings. Homebuilder, PulteGroup looks good up 13% on strong earnings. The materials are one of the weakest sectors with Dow Chemical and Potash modestly lower on earnings. Cliffs Natural Resources is down 10% on dismal earnings. Through the first hour the averages remained strong near the highs of the day bumping up against resistance. Thank you Mario Draghi, but the proof will be in the pudding. Through the morning the averages drifted off the highs as Apple fell into the red. However in the afternoon the averages rebounded with the Dow rising 200 points once again. The Nasdaq is up 30 points even as Apple remains in the red. Nine out of 10 sectors are up over 1%. Materials remain the weakest sector. Within the healthcare space, the HMOs continue to struggle since the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare. WellPoint dropped 12% yesterday on disappointing earnings and continued to fall further today. In the last hour the averages pushed back to the highs of the day. A great day for the bulls. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 211 points, or 1.7%, at 12,887, the best day this month, with all 30 components except Cisco Systems trading higher. The S&P 500 rose 22 points, or 1.7%, to 1,360, led by a 3% rise in telecom stocks. All 10 sectors were higher. The Nasdaq Composite rose 39 points, or 1.4%, to 2,893. Component Facebook fell 8.5% before releasing results after the bell.
July 25, 2012
U.S. stocks began higher Wednesday after a three-day losing stretch as Caterpillar and Boeing hiked their outlooks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 95 points to 12,713. The S&P 500 added 3 points to 1,342. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 2 points to 2,865. The earnings keep flooding in. Apple is one of the biggest losers falling 4% on disappointing earnings. Apple's suppliers are also getting hit, but the rest of the techs are holding up. Riverbed is jumping 25% thanks to a technology partnership with Juniper Networks. Juniper is also higher by 3%. Altera and IRobot are higher by 8% on earnings. Arm Holdings and Broadcom are up over 5% on earnings. The chips in general are all performing well. Symantec is higher by 3% on news of management shake-up. The financials are higher as former CEO Sandy Weill of Citigroup said the big banks should be broken up. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and of course Citigroup are higher. The energy sector is getting a lift. Hess is up 3% on earnings while Conoco Phillips is down 2.5% on earnings. Materials and Industrials are also getting a lift. Caterpillar and Boeing are certainly helping the industrials. The defensive consumer staples are under pressure today. Through the morning the averages remained strong. It's a risk on day except for Apple. In the afternoon more of the same until the last hour when the Dow gave up its' triple digit gains and the Nasdaq gave up modest gains. The Dow industrials finished up 58 points at 12,676. The S&P 500 index fell nearly half a point to 1,337. The Nasdaq Composite fell 8 points to 2,854.
July 24, 2012
U.S. stocks reversed early gains Tuesday as stronger Chinese manufacturing data vied with a worsening in sentiment about Europe, and as investors traded cautiously before some key earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped an initial 32 points to 12,689. By Monday's close, the index had booked its first back-to-back triple-digit decline since April. The S&P 500 dipped 2 points to 1,348. The Nasdaq Composite fell 8o cents to 2,889. The earnings keep flooding in with mixed results. To the up side, Under Armour is jumping 11% to just under its' all-time high. Domino's Pizza, Six Flags, and Polaris Industrials are all higher following earnings. Whirlpool is down 7% on earnings. In the transportation space, truck companies Ryder and Paccar are higher by 5% on earnings. Both stocks have come under pressure the last several months. Bellwether, UPS is down 4% after missing estimates and cutting guidance. A more common theme particularly among the transports. Not a good sign for the economies around the world. In the tech space things are mixed. Baidu.com is jumping 9% on earnings. EMC is higher on earnings while VMware is lower by a percent. Texas Instruments is also lower on earnings. Lexmark is down 7% on earnings. Cisco Systems is down 4.5% approaching its' 52 week low as the company announced more job cuts. Apple is modestly higher ahead of earnings tonight, but most of the blue chips are lower. The financials are holding in there. JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are modestly higher. The energy space, materials, and industrials are all trading lower. Peabody Energy is getting hit following earnings. The stock is down 38% year to date. Not good. Through the first hour the Dow pushed lower falling 90 points before bouncing back. AT&T had solid earnings this morning causing the stock to initially trade up only to sell back off. The Nasdaq dropped 16 points before rebounding. Apple is leading the rebound ahead of earnings. Through the morning the averages stabilized, but remained in the red. During the lunch hour the Euro sold off causing our dollar to rise and the major averages to sell off. Within an hour the Dow dropped a further 100 points while the Nasdaq dropped 25 points as even Apple fell into the red. Through the afternoon the Dow dropped 200 points before trying to rebound. The Nasdaq declined 35 points. It's all about Europe right now. I don't think even Apple can save the day.
July, 23, 2012
U.S. stocks opened with a thud on Monday as investors, while demand for safe-havens like the U.S. dollar and Treasuries jumped, on fears Greece was again on the cusp of default and as Spanish bond yields soared. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220 points, or 1.8%, to 12,598. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% to 1,341. The Nasdaq Composite lost 64 points or 2.2% to 2,860. News reports said the International Monetary Fund is prepared to cut off further aid for Greece, while Spain's Murcia region reportedly said it could ask for government bailout funds. In other words no matter how well the earnings come in, investors remained focused on the European mess. The news on the earnings front here is limited. Coca Cola Enterprises is modestly higher following earnings and that's about it. With the Dow, McDonalds is down 3% after missing estimates. All the Dow components are in the red. Booz Allen is down 2% after lowering guidance. On the analyst front, homebuilder KB Homes is higher by 2% on an upgrade. The homebuilder sector continues to hold up in this environment. Two commodity plays, US Steel and Valero were upgraded, but both are down over 2%. Commodities are getting hit as the price of oil is down 3%. Every sector is trading lower this morning. The tech sector is under pressure. Even Apple is lower by 2%. Google and IBM are lower by 1.5% following a nice run up last week following earnings. The energy, materials, and industrials are all getting hit. The financials are under pressure. JP Morgan is holding up the best as CEO Jamie Dimon bought 500,000 shares or roughly $17 million worth of stock on Friday. Through the first hour the averages remained weak near the lows of the day. The diamond today remains Peet's Coffee up 29% after agreeing to be bought out. After the first hour the averages bounced off the lows. The financials are firming up as JP Morgan moved into the green. In fact four Dow components are now in the green including JP Morgan, Home Depot, Caterpillar, and GE. Industrial Eaton is bouncing 5% even though earnings were disappointing and the company lowered guidance. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages kept slowly improving. The Dow recovered half its' loses as more components moved into the green. Within the Nasdaq, Google recovered went from down 12 points on the open to up 4 dollars. Impressive rebound. Apple was the next component to move into the green. In the last hour the averages kept slowly improving only to pull back into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 101 points to 12,721, led by a 2.9% retreat in McDonald's. The S&P 500 lost 12 points to 1,350. All 10 sectors were lower, dragged by natural-resource stocks. The Nasdaq Composite fell 35 points, or 1.2%, to 2,890. Heavyweight Microsoft fell 2.8%.