The Week In Review
12/7-12/11/09
December 11, 2009U.S. stocks extended early Friday gains after an upbeat reading on consumer sentiment followed a better-than-expected U.S. retail sales report for November. The Dow Jones Industrial rose 55 points to 10,461. United Tech is up 2% after reiterating guidance. Alcoa is up 6% on an upgrade. Disney is up a percent thanks to an upgrade. The S&P 500 Index climbed 5 points to 1,107. The Nasdaq Composite gained 8 points to 2,199. The big techs are performing well. Yahoo, Palm, Research in Motion, EMC, Corning, NCR, and Nokia were all upgraded. Corning is right near its' 52 week high along with Google. IBM made a nw high today. The chips are lower. Apple and Research in Motion are lower as well. The financials are modestly higher. The Treasury expects to make $936 million from selling JP Morgan warrants. Not bad. The retail sector is performing well. Best Buy, TJX, and Under Armour are higher thanks to upgrades. Christopher & Banks is jumping 28% after raising guidance. After the first hour the averages remain strong right where they started. Through the morning the averages remained in the green, but off the highs. In the afternoon more of the same. The Dow remained in the green while the Nasdaq held near the unchanged level. The commodity prices remain weak due to a small rally in the U.S. dollar. In the last hour, no change. The Dow Industrials finished up 65 points at 10,471, up 0.7% from last Friday's close. The S&P 500 Index added 4 points to 1,106, up less than 0.1% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 55 cents to close at 2,190, a weekly fall of 0.2%.
December 10, 2009
U.S. stocks started higher on Thursday after the count of those filing for initial jobless benefits during the past four weeks declined and the trade deficit narrowed as the weaker dollar bolstered exports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 96 points to 10,433. The S&P 500 Index rose 9 points to 1,105. The Nasdaq Composite gained 19 points to 2,202. Plenty of good news today, but most stocks don't look as good as the averages. The financials are quiet this morning. Citigroup is looking to pay back $20 billion worth of TARP dollars. The stock is unchanged. Visa and Mastercard are modestly higher on upgrades. Plenty of upgrades in the tech sector. Corning and Research in Motion are higher following upgrades. Google is higher thanks to positive comments regarding their Android software picking up steam within the cellphone industry. Ciena is down 8% on in line earnings and lowered guidance. Other companies reporting earnings include Dollar General, Smithfield Foods, Costco, Eli Lilly, and El Paso. Only Costco is modestly higher. Time Warner is spinning off America On Line following a disasterous merger in 2001. Both stocks are lower. After the first hour, the Dow was up 70 points. The Nasdaq remained up 14 points. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remained in the green. The financials are not participating. A number of techs look good. IBM made a new 52 week high. Google and Research in Motion look good. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68 points to 10,405. The S&P 500 Index climbed 6 points to 1,102 while the Nasdaq Composite Index added 7 points to 2,190.86.
December 9, 2009
U.S. stocks turned lower after a mildly higher start, with investors digesting news that the U.S. Treasury would extend the TARP program through next October. Information technology shares weighed the most, while the health care sector offered limited gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 25 points to 10,260. The S&P 500 Index declined 3 points to 1,088. The Nasdaq Composite shed 11 points to 2,161. The healthcare sector continues to improve as Congress moves away from the public option. The financials are modestly lower. Legg Mason is down thanks to cautious comments from an analyst. In the tech sector, Texas Instruments raised guidance last night indicating that demand is very strong, however the stock is lower. Xilinx, NSM, and Google were upgraded, yet all three are lower. Corning made positive comments, yet that stock is lower as well. The telecomm related stocks are performing well. Apple, Research in Motion, Real Networks, and Sprint are all higher. Sprint is up 9% on an upgrade. After the first hour the averages remain in the red, but not by much. Two Dow components 3M and Pfizer are higher following upgrades. After the first hour the Dow rallied, then fell back, then rallied again in the afternoon. The financials moved slowly into the green. The financials have presenting at a Goldman Sachs conference the last two days. Bank of America announced today that they repaid the government TARP money. The stock, however, is not reacting. In the last hour the averages kept rallying even as commodities move lower.
December 8, 2009
U.S. stocks opened steeply lower on Tuesday, with materials and consumer discretionary shares down the most, as credit and financial worries rose around the globe. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 113 points to 10,276. The S&P 500 Index slid 11 points to 1,091, and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 21 points to 2,168. A lot of mixed data this morning. FedEx is jumping 2% after lifting guidance last night. Talbots and Sanderson Farms are higher following earnings. In the tech sector Apple, Motorola, and Research in Motion are higher on upgrades. Xilinx is modestly higher after lifting guidance. The rest of the market doesn't look so good. 3M is lower following cautious guidance. Monsanto is lower after reaffirming guidance. McDonalds is lower after releasing November sales numbers. Krogers and Vail Resorts are lower following earnings. The commodities in general are trading lower with the U.S. dollar inching higher. The fertilizers continue to perform well. Agrium is up 3% on an upgrade. After the first hour the averages remained weak near the lows of the day. The financials are lower except for M&T Bank which was upgraded with a $85 price target. The healthcare sector has started to perform much better of late. Through the morning and into the afternoon, the averages remain weak including the financials. The U.S. dollar remained elevated sending gold and oil to new recent lows. That's good. In the last hour, no rebound. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 104 points at 10,285. The S&P 500 Index shed 11 points to 1,091 while the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 16 points to 2,172.
December 7, 2009
U.S. stocks posted mild gains early Monday after faltering at the start, with telecommunication and utility shares fronting the rise thanks to a positive Barrons piece. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 16 points to 10,405. The S&P 500 Index added a point to 1,107. The Nasdaq Composite rose a point to 2,196. In the telecomm sector, AT&T and Verizon are both up 1.5%. Research in Motion is jumping 3% on positive developments regarding China sales. Surprisingly, Apple is trading lower. In the tech sector, the chips continue to perform well. AMD, Texas Instruments, and Brocade Communication were all upgraded. Cisco is at a new high ahead of an analyst day tomorrow. Juniper Networks and Akamai are both higher thanks to an upgrades. In the financial sector American Express, Capital One, and Discover Financial are all higher thanks to upgrades from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch. Metlife is up 3.4% after giving an upbeat mid-quarter update. After the first hour the Dow rose 40 points. The Nasdaq inched up 6 points. Thanks to a rally in the U.S. dollar, commodities like gold and oil are lower. The fertilizer stocks like Potash, Mosaic, and Agrium are all higher. Agrium was upgraded this morning. Through the morning the Dow remained in the green. The Nasdaq hovered just above the unchanged level. In the afternoon the averages gave up their gains heading into the last hour. The financials were selling off. In the last hour the Dow recovered. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up a point at 10,390. The S&P 500 Index fell 2 points to 1,103, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 4 points to 2,189.