The Week In Review
4/20-4/24
April 24, 2009U.S. stocks open higher thanks to better than expected earnings results at a number of companies including Ford Motor, American Express, and Microsoft. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 50 points to 8,007. The S&P 500 Index gained 6 points to 858, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 11 points to 1,663. Ford is a stand out, jumping 16% thanks to earnings and indications that don't need government assistance, unlike Chrysler which is preparing for bankruptcy. The financials are higher ahead of the release of the banks stress test parameters. American Express is jumping 13% on better than expected results. Wilmington Trust is jumping 21% after beating estimates. Prudential is up 3% thanks to an upgrade. In the tech sector, Microsoft is up 5% after last night's results. Juniper and Amazon are higher following earnings. Cisco and Research in Motion are higher thanks to upgrades. The restaurants and retailers remain on fire. Cheesecake Factory is soaring 17% after beating estimates. Stanley Works is up 9% after beating estimates by 9 cents. Deckers Outdoors is down 4% even though they easily beat estimates. I guess the sales of Uggs are slowing down. After the first half an hour, the Dow jumped 100 points. The Nasdaq rose 21 points. So far so good. Through the morning the averages remained strong even as the financials sold off. Investors are nervous ahead of the government release of the stress test parameters. In the afternoon, the averages kept improving dragging the financials along with it. At 2 o'clock, the bank stress test parameters came out without much fanfare. No major reaction at first, then a sell off. Entering the last hour, the averages rebounded, pushing to new highs. The Dow rose as much as 170 points before pulling back. The Nasdaq rose 50 points before pulling back. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 119 points, or 1.5%, at 8,076, leaving it down 0.7% from a week ago, snapping a six week rally. The S&P 500 Index rose 14 points, or 1.7%, to 866. On the week, the broad index slipped 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite added 42 points, or 2.6%, to end at 1,694, up 1.3% for the week.
April 23, 2009
U.S. stocks open fixed as the earnings keep flooding in. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7 points to 7,879. The S&P 500 Index climbed 2 points to 845, while the Nasdaq Composite added a point to 1,648. The techs are performing well this morning. Apple, Ebay, and Netgear are higher following earnings. VMware, EMC, and Xilinx are lower after earnings. The restaurants and retailers remain on fire. Yum Brands, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Black & Decker, Philip Morris, Jetblue, Goodrich, Auto Nation, Hershey, and Radio Shack are all higher following earnings. Aeropostale is higher on an upgrade. Marriott is jumping thanks to better than expected earnings. UPS is one of the dogs of the day, falling 6% after lowering guidance. The financials are mostly higher expect for a select few regionals. PNC, Fifth Third, Janus, and Suntrust are higher following earnings. CIT Group is down 6% after posting a big loss and suspending their dividend. In the commodity space Diamond Offshore, Ensco, Conoco Phillips, and Suncor are higher after easily beating estimates. Steel maker, Nucor is down 7% after missing estimates. After the first hour, the Dow fell 30 points. The Nasdaq was down by just 2 points. Through the morning, the averages pushed lower on light volume. During the lunch hour, the averages recovered back to the unchanged level. The financials remain in the green. In the last hour, unlike yesterday, the averages rallied into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 70 points at 7,957. The S&P 500 Index climbed 8 points to 851, while the Nasdaq Composite added 6 points to 1,652.
April 22, 2009
U.S. stocks fell at the start on Wednesday as investors chewed on mixed corporate results, including a loss from Morgan Stanley. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 56 points to 7,912. The S&P 500 Index dropped 7 points to 842, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 11 points to 1,631. Morgan Stanley is trading down 8% after missing estimates by 49 cents and slashed the dividend to save a billion dollars. KeyCorp is down 14% on a downgrade. M&T Bank is down 4% on a downgrade. Other financials are faring much better including Wells Fargo beating estimates after preannouncing better than expected results two weeks ago. Ameriprise is jumping 7% on good earnings. The best sign among the financials might be Capital One. The stock is holding in there even though they missed estimates by 31 cents due to the awful business enviironment. In the tech sector Seagate, Sandisk, and Allegheny Tech are higher on earnings. Yahoo is jumping 4% after beating estimates by 7 cents. Google is up in sympathy. Apple is higher ahead of earnings tonight. Molex and Altera are lower following earnings. After the first half an hour, the all the major averages moved into the green. Another good sign. Dow components McDonalds, AT&T, Boeing, and Altria are all higher following earnings. Other companies reporting earnings include Northrop Grumman, Ryder, Freeport McMoran, St. Jude, Kimberly Clark, Wellpoint, Genzyme, and Wolverine Worldwide. Only Genzyme and Kimberly Clark are lower. Ryder is jumping 5% lifitng the Dow Jones Transportation Average by 1.5%. Through the morning the averages kept improving along with the financials. The Dow rose over 50 points back above 8000. The Nasdaq rose 29 points. Today's turnaround is a very good sign. During the lunch hour, the retailers started to jump. JCPenney is soaring 7% after actually raising guidance. Target, Best Buy, and American Eagle are all up over 4%. But by the end of the lunch hour, the rally started to unravel thanks to the financials. In the last hour, the rally came unraveled. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 82 points at 7,886. The S&P 500 fell 6 points to 843 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 2 points higher to 1,645.
April 21, 2009
U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday, extending the prior session's steep decline, amid worries about the health of banks and the quality of their earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32 points to 7,809. The S&P 500 Index declined 3 points to 829, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 4 points to 1,604. The banks are again in focus as the earnings come flooding in, and the news is mixed. The financials reporting earnings including Zions Bancorp, Blackrock, M&T, Western Union, Northern Trust, Jefferies, Huntington Bancshares, Regions Financial, State Street, US Bancorp, Bank of New York, and KeyCorp. Key, Zions, Bank of New York, Regions, and Northern Trust are all down 13% or more. Blackrock, Western Union, Jefferies, and US Bancorp are all up 7% or more. After the open the techs rebounded. Texas Instruments is lifting the chip sector on better than expected results. IBM is modestly higher after beat estimates last night by 4 cents. Broadcom is down 9% after reporting a loss and announcing a $764 million offer for Emulex. Emulex is jumping 42%. In the healthcare sector Schering Plough, Merck, Unitedhealth Group, and Forest Labs are all lower on earnings. Healthway is jumping 9% after beating estimates by 5 cents. Other companies reporting earnings include the New York Times, AK Steel, Coke, Delta Airlines, Coach, BJ Services, DuPont, and Lockheed Martin. Coach is jumping 15% after intiaiting a dividend. Two Dow components are heading in different directions. Caterpillar is down 5% after reporting a loss. United Tech is jumping 5% on in line results. After the first hour, the Dow remained lower, but only by 40 points. The Nasdaq was in the green by 4 points. After the first hour, the averages improve with the major averages moving into the green. Even the financials are rallying thanks in part to comments from the Secretary of the Treasury to Congress easing concerns about nationalization, once again. In the afternoon, more of the same. This is a nice turn around, particularly within the financials. In the last hour, the averages kept pushing higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 127 points, or 1.6%, at 7,969. The S&P 500 added 17 points, or 2.1%, at 850, while the Nasdaq Composite added 35 points, or 2.2%, at 1,643.
April 20, 2009
U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday, with investors retreating after a six-week run to the upside. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 122 points to 8,008 thanks to the financials. The S&P 500 dropped 15 points to 853, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 32 points to 1,640. The banks are in focus once again. Bank of America reported better than expected profits thanks to a number of one time gains. The stock is lower by 12% due to the continuing credit deterioration. Citigroup and Suntrust are both lower by 12% thanks to downgrades. Bank of Hawaii beat by a penny, but the stock is lower by 7%. Other companies reporting earnings include Eaton, Weatherford, Halliburton, Lilly, Hasbro, and Pepsi. Only Lilly is higher after beating by 21 cents. Oil and the rest of the commodities are lower this morning. Agrium had a nice positive article in Barrons over the weekend, but the stock is lower by 4%. The techs are lower as well except for SunMicrosystems. Sun is the diamond of the day, jumping 35%, thanks to the white knight Oracle stepping in to buy the firm for $9.50 a share in cash. Not bad. After the first hour, a broad market sell off. The Dow dropped over 200 points. The Nasdaq declined 50 points. Through the morning, more the same. Nothing looks good other than gold. In the afternoon, the averages moved lower. Our six week rally looks to have hit a snag. In the last hour, no rebound, just more selling, particularly in the financials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 289 points, or 3.6%, at 7,841. The S&P 500 dropped 37 points, or 4.3%, to 832, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 64 points, or 3.9%, to 1,608.