The Week In Review
4/13-4/17/09
April 17, 2009U.S. stocks on Friday opened mostly lower due to profit-taking as investors sorted through earnings from Citigroup and General Electric. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 7 points to 8,133. The S&P 500 Index declined a point to 863 while the Nasdaq Composite fell 10 points to 1,660. GE and Citigroup were trading higher pre-market after both companies beat estimates. Citigroup and most of the financials traded lower once the markets opened. JP Morgan is lower following a downgrade. GE is unchanged while regional bank, BB&T is up 3% after beating estimates by 17 cents. Google easily beat estimates last night, but sales were light. The stock is trading higher. Motorola and Nokia are modestly higher following upgrades. Corning opened higher thanks to an upgrade with a $18 price target. In the retail space Home Depot, Lowes, and American Eagle are all higher thanks to upgrades. Mattel is jumping 10% even though they missed estimates. Charlotte Russe is up 4% as they beat estimates by 6 cents. Gamestop is down 4% even though they reaffirmed guidance. After the first half an hour, the Dow remained in the green. The Nasdaq's decline was only 4 points. Through the morning the averages drifted lower on lackluster interest. Volume is higher than average due to option expiration. The healthcare providers are one of the weakest sectors. Wellpoint, Unitedhealth Group, and Aetna are all down 4%. Entering the lunch hour, the Dow recovered thanks to the financials. American Express is up 6%, Bank of America is up 4%, and regional bank, BB&T is now up 14%. In the afternoon, more of the same. The averages slowly improved along with the financials. In the last hour, the rally fizzled. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up just 5 points at 8,131, its highest close since February 9th. The blue-chip index tallied a weekly gain of 0.6%. The S&P 500 added 4 points to 869, a 1.5% rise from last week's finish. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite advanced 2 points to end at 1,673, up 1.2% for the week.
April 16, 2009
U.S. stocks opened higher thanks to an unexpected drop in initial jobless claims and better than anticipated earnings from J.P. Morgan Chase. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36 points to 8,065. The S&P 500 Index gained 5 points to 857 while the Nasdaq Composite added 17 points to stand at 1,644. JP Morgan is trading up 3%, lifting most of the sector. Charles Schwab and American Express are lower even though both were upgraded. Capital One is down 5% on a downgrade. REIT, General Growth Properties is halted after filing for Chapter 11 this morning. The techs are performing well so far this morning. Google is higher ahead of earnings tonight. Nokia and Fairchild Semi are both up over 7% on earnings. HP and Microsoft are higher thanks to upgrades. Cypress Semi is lower after reporting a quarterly loss. SunMicro opened higher on rumors IBM is back in talks to buy the firm. Other earnings reports are coming in from Sonoco, Southwest, Parker Hannifin, Harley Davidson, Polaris, Sherwin Williams, Activision Blizzard, and Intuitive Surgical. Harley is jumping 11%, Sherwin Williams is up 9%, Polaris is up 8%, and Activision is up 4%. Southwest is down 10% and Sonoco is down 6%. After the first half an hour, the averages remain in the green, but not by much. Financials and techs still look good. After the first hour, and through the morning, the Dow dipped into the red following a little profit-taking. No major sell off. The Nasdaq is holding just above the unchanged level. In the afternoon, the averages perked up, all moving into the green. JP Morgan continues to lead the financials higher. Google is leading the techs highs. Entering the last hour, the Dow was up over 100 points. The Nasdaq rose 45 points. The averages ran up a little more in the last hour, then held on to most of the gains as some sellers stepped in. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 95 points, or 1.2%, at 8,125. The S&P 500 Index climbed 13 points, or 1.6%, to 865. The Nasdaq Composite added 43 points, or 2.7%, to 1,670.
April 15, 2009
It's tax day. U.S. stocks start to the downside pressured by a cautious outlook from chip-maker and technology bellwether Intel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35 points to 7,887. Dow component, Intel is lower by 5%. The S&P 500 index dropped 4 points to 837 while the Nasdaq Composite lost 17 points, or 1%, to 1,608. Intels' cautious outlook really isn't hurting the other tech stocks. Google is higher ahead of earnings tomorrow. Ebay is higher thanks to an upgrade and news the company plans to spin off Skype. The financials are under selling pressure for a second straight day. UBS is down 4% after losing $1.8 billion and announcing more job cuts. Capital One is lower by 5% on concerns of credit card losses. Mastercard is down 2% even though the stock was upgraded. Charles Schwab and Piper Jaffray are higher after both beat earnings estimates. Raymond James is down 20% after missing estimates. In the retail space, Burger King is down 15% after missing estimates. Walmart is unchanged on cautious comments. Yum Brands and American Eagle are higher following upgrades. Cabela's is down 4% even though it was upgraded. In the energy space, Peabody Energy is down 9% on lackluster earnings. Abbott Labs is lower by 4% even though they beat by 3 cents. Railroad company, CSX is jumping 7% after beating estimates by 11 cents. After the first half an hour, the Dow had recovered, moving into the green. The Nasdaq was down 9 points. Through the morning, more of the same. The Dow remained in the green. The financials are mixed. The Nasdaq remains in the red. During the lunch hour, the Dow continued to improve, dragging everything with it. A homebuilder index jumped in April thanks to the record low interest rates. The averages held up well after the Beige Book provided a few rays of hope that the economic slide was slowing. In the last hour, the averages rallied into the close along with the financials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 109 points, or 1.4%, to end at 8,029. The S&P 500 Index climbed 10 points, or 1.3%, to end at 852, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied a point to finished at 1,626.
April 14, 2009
U.S. stocks tumbled lower at Tuesday's start, with disappointing retail sales figures for March weighing on sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 102 points to 7,955. The S&P 500 Index declined 12 points to 845 while the Nasdaq Composite shed 21 points to 1,631. Goldman Sachs had great earnings last night, but the stock is lower by 6% due to a $5 billion stock offering priced around $123 a share. Most of the financials are modestly lower after a great run up. Metlife is down 2% even though they say they don't need Treasury assistance. Discover is down 5% on a downgrade and job cuts. Citigroup is bucking the trend, trading up 10%. The earnings and upgrades and downgrades are starting to flood in. J&J is higher after beating estimates by 4 cents. JB Hunt is higher after beating estimates. Dressbarn is higher after raising estimates. Philips Electronics is higher even though sales declined 17% year over year. Talbots is down 22% after a fourth quarter loss. Coach is lower on a downgrade while Dr. Pepper Snapple is up 3% on an upgrade. Sanderson Farms is down 5% on a downgrade. RBC upgraded Google and Amazon, however, both stocks are lower. VMware is down 3% on a downgrade. MGM Mirage is jumping 18% after receiving bank funding. The diamond of the day is Dendreon, up 177% after positive data for their prostate cancer drug. After the first hour, the averages remained weak, but many of the financials perked up. In the afternoon, the rebound fizzled along with the rally within the financials. The Dow dropped over 140 points. The Nasdaq declined 30 points. The shrewd Goldman Sachs hasn't seen their stock price over $120 a share since October. Yesterday the stock hit $130 a share so they came out with a $5 billion common equity offering. The offering was priced at $123 a share and then the stock proceeded to go lower. Suckers. Entering the last hour, the Dow was trying to recover once again, down just 100 points, but it didn't last. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 137 points, or 1.7%, at 7,920. The S&P 500 Index dropped 17 points, or 2%, to stand at 841, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 27 points, or 1.7%, to 1,625.
April 13, 2009
U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday with investors stepping back from a five-week run higher ahead of earnings and a report that General Motors is progressing toward bankruptcy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79 points to 8,003. GM is down 2%. Alcoa is modestly higher on an upgrade. The S&P 500 declined 8 points to 848 while the Nasdaq Composite shed 11 points to 1,640. The financials opened lower, but quickly turned around. American Express is up 8% thanks to a positive cover piece in Barrons. Goldman Sachs is modestly higher thanks to an upgrade ahead of earnings tomorrow. Other financials reporting this week include JP Morgan, Citigroup, GE, and plenty of regional banks. Citigroup is up 12% on plans of divesting more assets including a Japanese division. Wells Fargo is modestly lower after a big jump on Thursday. Even with the strength in the financials, the averages pushed lower. The Dow dropped over 100 points. The Nasdaq declined 22 points. The tech sector is lower. Google is higher, but that's about it. Seagate, Broadcom, and Apple are lower even though they were upgraded. Ebay and Corning are both down 3% on downgrades. One deal over the weekend. Express Scripts is buying a division of Wellpoint for $4.68 billion. Both stocks are higher. Textron is down 14% following rumors last week of a buy out that didn't materialize over the weekend. MGM is jumping 13% after investors in Dubai agreed to help out the firm. Through the morning the averages remained weak, but the financials actually look great. In the afternoon, entering the last hour, the averages slowly recovered with the financials in the lead. It looks liker we're getting a little short covering ahead of the financial earnings later this week. In the last hour, the averages snuck into the green only to give the gains into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 25 points at 8,057. The S&P 500 Index added 2 points to 858 while the Nasdaq Composite rose fractionally up 77 cents to end at 1,653.