The Week In Review
11/2-11/6/09
Nov 6, 2009U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday, with investors disheartened by the October jobs report, which had the unemployment rate hitting 10.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41 points to 9,964. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4 points to 1,062, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 5 points to 2,099. Even though the economic data is weak, analysts are bullish. GE is jumping 5% following two upgrades this morning. The financials opened lower, but are trying to recover. Blackstone is up 5% following better than expected earnings this morning. Travelers is up 2% on an upgrade. Visa is higher on an upgrade. Alliance Financial is jumping 6% after withdrawing a stock shelf offering. After the first half an hour the averages recovered, moving into the green. In the tech sector, Nvidia and Activision Blizzard are both up over 4% following earnings. Amazon is jumping 3% on an upgrade. IBM, Google, Intel, and Cisco are trading higher as well. The retailers are rebounding after getting hit yesterday. Starbucks is up 4% following earnings. Macys is up 3% on an upgrade. TJX is modestly higher on an upgrade. Rosetta Stone is weak, down 11% following disappointing earnings. Through the morning the averages fought to remain in the green. GE is improving, rising 7%. Through the afternoon the averages moved sideways. In the last hour the averages did nothing. Volume is light today. I guess all the traders are in the streets of Manhattan cheering on the World Series Champs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 17 points at 10,023, with the blue chips up 3.2% for the week. The S&P 500 Index rose 2 points closing at 1069, leaving it up 3.2% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite gained 7 points to close at 2,112, giving the technology-laden index a weekly rise of 3.3%.
Nov 5, 2009
U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday after jobless claims and productivity reports proved more upbeat than expected, while networking equipment maker Cisco Systems reported a bounce back in sales. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 84 points to 9,886. The S&P 500 Index added 7 points to 1,053. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 23 points to 2,078. Cisco is up 2% lifting all the techs. Netsuite and Qualcomm are both up over 3% following earnings. Research in Motion is up 2% following an announced share buyback. The financials are modestly higher although the stocks reporting earnings are lower including Prudential, Allstate, Manulife, SunLife Financial, and MF Global. The retail sector is struggling this morning after reporting October sales. Aeropostale is down 12%, American Eagle is down 9%, JC Penney is down 7%, while Gap is up 3%. Urban Outfitters, Limited Brands, Dr. Pepper Snapple, and Orbitz are lower following earnings. Other earnings are coming in from Whole Foods, CVS Caremark, MGM Mirage, Worldwide Wrestling, Time Warner, Cigna, Direct TV, and Sara Lee. Whole Foods and CVS Caremark are both down 9% while the rest are higher. After the first half an hour, the averages kept pushing higher. The Dow rose 130 points. The Nasdaq rose 36 points. Very similar to yesterday. Hopefully the rally holds up this time. Through the morning the averages kept inching higher. The Dow rose 180 points putting it within striking distance of 10,000. The Nasdaq rose 46 points. An IPO today, Hyatt Hotel went off better than expected. The stock is up 8%. That's a good sign. Entering the last hour the Dow rose 200 points to new highs for the day hitting 10,000 once again.
Nov 4, 2009
U.S. stocks started higher on Wednesday as the market anticipates the Federal Reserve's current take on the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 55 points to 9,827. The S&P 500 Index added 7 points to 1,053. The Nasdaq Composite rose 11 points to 2,068. The financials are rallying this morning after rebounding into the close yesterday. Hartford is higher following earnings last night. National Financial Partners is up 15% following better than expected earnings last night. Mastercard is up 2% on an upgrade. Bond insurer, AMBAC is up 41% after reporting a profit. A REIT, American Capital is jumping 21% on in line earnings. The techs are rebounding nicely. Google, Apple, Intel, Cisco, and IBM are higher. Dolby Labs and Garmin are down over 4% following earnings. In the commodity space Agruim is higher on in line earnings. Oil companies Transocean, Baker Hughes, and Devon Energy are all lower following earnings. Other earnings are coming in from Molson Coors, Liz Claiborne, ADP, Pulte, Time Warner, Comcast, and General Dynamic. Tyco, WellCare, and Foster Wheeler are all up over 7% following earnings. After the first half an hour the Dow jumped 100 points. The Nasdaq rose 13 points. After the first hour the Dow jumped 140 points. The Nasdaq rose 21 points. So far so good. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remained strong. The financials are pulling back a littel bit. In the last hour the averages kept pulling back led by the financials. That's not good. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 30 points to 9,802. The S&P 500 Index gained a point to 1,046. The Nasdaq Composite fell a point to end at 2,055.
Nov 3, 2009
U.S. stocks started lower on Tuesday, with Warren Buffett's deal for railway Burlington Northern Santa Fe only slightly offsetting a decline in financial shares, hit in part by poor results from Swiss lender UBS. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 59 points to 9,729. The S&P 500 Index fell 7 points to 1,035, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 14 points to 2,034. First the merger front, Burlington Northern is jumping 28%. Berkshire is modestly higher. All the railroads are higher on this merger news. CSX and Louisiana Pacific were both upgraded this morning. Genesee Wyoming is up 7% following earnings. Another deal announced last night was Stanley buying Black & Decker. Black & Decker is up 23% while Stanley Works is up 4%. A third deal announced today is the acquisition of Landry Seafood. The stock is jumping 27%. Outside the merger news, most sectors are lower. The financials are lower once again. UBS is down 5% on a $552 million loss. Mastercard is down 2% following earnings. The techs are lower once again. Plenty of downgrades within the chips including Intel, Micron, and Sandisk. Two days in a row, an analyst defended Research in Motion. The stock is rebounding 3%. Plenty of other earnings from the likes of Viacom, Oshkosh, Cedar Fair, Archer Daniels, Frontier, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Polo, Rowan, Diebold, Marathon Oil, Texas Roadhouse, Herbalife, Cablevision, and Martin Marietta. Texas Roadhouse is up 15% while Cedar Fair is down 13%. Other than that, nothing is moving much. The bulls are on a break. After the first hour, the Dow was down 30 points. The Nasdaq declined 9 points. Through the morning the averages remain in the red moving with the U.S. dollar. In the afternoon the avergaes slowly recovered with the Nasdaq moving into the green in the last hour. Research in Motion is jumping 7%. Google is higher as well. The averages continued to improve into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 17 points at 9,771. The S&P 500 added 2 points to 1,045, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 8 points to 2,057.
Nov 2, 2009
U.S. stocks started higher on Monday, with a surprise profit from Ford Motor bolstering market sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 42 points to 9,754. The S&P 500 Index rose 6 points to 1,042. The Nasdaq Composite gained a point to 2,046. Ford is the diamond of the day jumping 9% following earnings. Other companies trading higher following earnings include Cooper Tires, Clorox, Loews, and CNA Financial. The financials are performing well. US Bancorp is up 3% after agreeing to take over 9 banks over the weekend which should be accretive to earnings next year. Travelers and Genworth are higher following upgrades. The techs are mixed this morning. The release of more and more smart phones caused Citigroup to downgrade Palm and Research in Motion. Palm is up 3% while Research in Motion is down 3%. Cisco is higher on an upgrade ahead of earnings on Wednesday. Juniper is also higher on an upgrade. At 10 o'clock, better than expected economic data sent the Dow up over 100 points. The Nasdaq, which briefly fell into the red, is bouncing back by 13 points. The roller coaster ride continues. Through the morning and into the afternoon the rally fizzled as the U.S. dollar improved. Entering the last hour the Dow was able to sneak back into the green, dragging the other averages with it. Volatile day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 76 points at 9,789. The S&P 500 Index gained 6 points to close at 1,042, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 4 points to 2,049.