The Week In Review
1/19/09-1/23/09
January 23, 2009The markets open lower once again as the economic and corporate outlook is not getting any better. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 172 points, or 2.1%, to 7,950. GE is down 3% on in-line guidance and a cautious outlook. The S&P 500 declined 16 points, or 2%, to 810, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 22 points to 1,442. The financials are lower once again. Capital One is down 14% on dismal earnings. M&T Bank is lower on a downgrade. BB&T is lower on concerns of a dividend cut. Insider buying at U.S. Bancorp isn't helping this morning. In the tech sector, Google is modestly higher for now after beating estimates. MEMC Electronics is higher after beating estimates. AMD, Sony, and Xerox are lower after reporting quarterly losses. Xerox is down 16%. Harley Davidson is down 16% after missing estimates by a wide margin. The commodities are trying to rally. Schlumberger is up 6% even though they missed estimates by 2 cents. After the first hour the averages had bounced off the lows, but the Dow was still down 120 points. The Nasdaq was down just 2 points. Aflac is jumping 19% after indicating their capital position is strong. A large cap merger is circling the rumor mill. Wyeth is jumping 8% on rumors Pfizer may make an offer for the drug company. Through the morning the averages sold off to new lows only to rebound once again. One stock not rebounding is GE down 6%. Entering the lunch hour more and more stocks moved into the green. The Nasdaq moved into the green led by Google. The Dow remained down 100 points. In the afternoon, the techs and the Nasdaq remain in the green. The Dow is trying to get back to the unchanged level, but is having difficulty, particularly with GE down 11% at the lows of the day. In the last hour more of the same. The Nasdaq remained in the green. The Dow kept trying to get back to the unchanged level. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45 points to 8,077, leaving the blue chip average down 2.5% on the week. The S&P 500 gained 4 points to 831, translating into a 2.1% decline on the week. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite gained 11 points to 1,477, off 3.4% on the week.
January 22, 2009
U.S. stocks fell sharply at Thursday's start following more weak economic data and a surprise earnings miss at Microsoft. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 133 points to 8,095. The S&P 500 declined 15 points to 824, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 42 points to stand at 1,464. Not many stocks are trading higher. Microsoft is down 6%, rival Intel is cutting jobs. Sony expects a full year loss. Nokia and Ebay both missed estimates. The one tech that looks good today is Apple up 5% after easily beating estimates last night. The financials are mixed today. The financials trading lower on earnings include CIT Group, Huntington Bancshares, Janus, BB&T, SunTrust, and Fifth Third. M&T Bank and KeyCorp are actually higher following earnings. JP Morgan is up 2% as CEO Jamie Dimon bought $11 million worth of stock. Bank of America CEO bought a million dollars worth of his stock, but it isn't helping. A few stocks are trading higher on earnings including Lockheed Martin, Southwest Airlines, Unitedhealth Group, and Potash. After the first half an hour the averages remained weak near the lows of the day. Through the morning, the averages only got weaker. The financials are weak. It looks like John Thain is out at Merrill Lynch / Bank of America. The insurance stocks are getting clobbered once again. Metlife and Hartford are both down 11%. Aflac is down 35% on a downgrade and concerns regarding some of their investment products. Entering the lunch hour, the Dow was down 270 points. The Nasdaq declined 62 points. Very few stocks are in the green. In the afternoon the averages remained weak. Two financials, Goldman and Morgan Stanley rebounded moving into the green. In the middle of the afternoon, the averages started to slowly improve, gaining momentum. But that rally quickly fizzled in the last hour. Here we go again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 105 points to 8,122. The S&P 500 declined 12 points
to 827. The Nasdaq Composite stumbled 41 points to 1,465.
January 21, 2009
U.S. stocks are rebounding today thanks in part to better than expected earnings from IBM. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 132 points to 8,081. IBM is up 7%. The S&P 500 climbed 14 points to 820 while the Nasdaq Composite added 31 points to 1,472. The techs in general look pretty good. Google is higher following a couple of upgrades. Analog Devices is down after guiding earnings lower. The financials are rebounding, but remain precarious. Northern Trust looks great up 21% after actually beating estimates. Other financials reporting earnings include U.S. Bancorp, Hudson City Bancorp, Blackrock, and Fulton Financial. Only Blackrock is lower. American Express and Capital One are higher even though they were downgraded. GE is down a percent ahead of earnings at the end of the week. The airlines are weak as UAL and AMR lost a lot of money. Railroad company, CSX is up 5% on in line earnings. In the retail space, Coach is down 6% on dismal earnings. Walmart is lower on a downgrade. Another Dow component, United Tech is lower following earnings. After the first half an hour the averages remained strong near the highs of the day. Keep your fingers crossed. After the first hour the rally started to fizzle particularly within the financials. U.S. Bancorp opened up 6% higher, but following their conference call, the stock dropped over 20%. Here we go again. Through the morning the averages remained in the green, but not by much. In the afternoon the averages slowly improved, picking up speed entering the last hour. Insider buying at Bank of America helped lift that stock and other financials a little bit more. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 279 points, or 3.5%, at 8,228. The S&P 500 gained 35 points, or 4.4%, to 840 while the Nasdaq Composite added 66 points, or 4.6%, to 1,507.
January 20, 2009
U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday as the ailing banking sector and what's likely to be a dismal earnings season over shadow the enthusiasm over Barack Obama's inauguration as the nation's 44th president. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 62 points to 8,218. The S&P 500 declined 8 points to 841 while the Nasdaq Composite shed 13 points to 1,515. The averages quickly moved lower as the banks race to zero. Growing concerns of nationalization of the banking system in the U.K. has U.S. investors spooked. Barclays is down 42% and the Royal Bank of Scotland is down 70%. In the U.S., State Street is down 50% following bad earnings and a dire outlook. Citigroup looks awful, Bank of America is getting worse, and the once strong JP Morgan and Wells Fargo are plunging. Regions Financial is down 10% after missing estimates. Jefferies looks good down only 5% after missing estimates. KeyCorp is down only 2% on a positive article in Barrons. Nothing really looks good in the market. In the tech sector, Research in Motion is higher on an upgrade. Corning was upgraded, but the stock is lower. Google is lower on a downgrade. J&J beat estimates, but the stock is lower. The commodities are weak. Suncor Energy is down 12% even though they beat estimates by 14 cents. The defensive sectors look okay. Forest Labs is up 3% after beating estimates. Pfizer and Bristol Myers are modestly higher. Gold is higher. After the first hour the Dow was down 116 points. The Nasdaq declined 37 points. Through the morning the averages remained weak. No bounce when President Obama was elected. In the afternoon more weakness particularly in the financials. Not pretty. Entering the last hour the Dow was near the lows of the day down 250 points. The Nasdaq was down 67 points. Wallstreet is collapsing yet everyone is partying in Washington. Can anyone hear Nero's violin? In the last hour more selling. The Dow Jones closed below 8,000 for the
first time since Nov. 20, falling 332 points or 4% to 7,949. The S&P 500 dropped 44 points, 5.3%, to close at 805. The Nasdaq Composite shed 88 points, or 5.8%, to close at 1,440. This was the steepest decline on Inauguration day in over a 100 years. Great.
January 19, 2009
CLosed for Martin Luther King Jr.