The Week In Review
1/18-1/22/10
January 22, 2010U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday, extending losses into a third day, with concerns regarding the financials and the Chinese government making moves to cool its economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 20 points to 10,369. The S&P 500 Index fell a point to 1,114. The Nasdaq Composite declined 4 points to 2,260. At least two Dow components are performing well. GE and McDonalds are higher following better than expected earnings. The rest of the market, not so good. The financials are weak once again as investors still try to decipher what President Obama was getting at yesterday other than creating uncertainty which Wallstreet hates. JP Morgan, Charles Schwab, Fifth Third, Goldman Sachs, PNC Bank, Visa, and Mastercard were all upgraded, yet all are lower. SunTrust, Capital One, American Express, and BB&T beat earnings estimates yet all four are lower. Keycorp is down 3% on a downgrade. The techs are not much better. Google is down 4% on blow out earnings. AMD is down 11% on blow out earnings. Western Digital is down 6% on blow out earnings. I see a pattern. Even the mighty Apple is lower. Within the first hour the Dow fell 80 points before cutting the losses in half. The Nasdaq declined 28 points before cutting the losses in half. Here's the next thing to worry about. Congress need to reappoint Fed Chairman Bernanke next week and the vote looks pretty close as of now. Here we go again. Through the morning the averages remained weak. The commodities are lower once again. Freeport McMoRan is down again after getting clobbered yesterday. In the afternoon the averages pushed lower once again as President Obama got infront of a microphone once again. Entering the last hour the Dow dropped 120 points. The Nasdaq declined 39 points. In the last hour and into the close, the averages pushed lower as no one wants to be long over the weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 216 points, or 2.1%, at 10,172. The blue-chip average fell 4.1% for the week, its worst weekly performance since February of 2009. The S&P 500 index lost 24 points, or 2.2%, to close at 1,091, leading to a weekly loss of 3.9%. Technology shares were hit by a series of downgrade in Friday's session. The Nasdaq Composite fell 60 points, or 2.7%, to close at 2,205. It fell 3.6% for the week.
January 21, 2010
U.S. stocks opened tentatively higher on Thursday, with technology shares modestly higher ahead of results from Google. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 4 points to 10,610. The S&P 500 Index rose 3 points to 1,141. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 14 points at 2,306. Plenty of good earnings from the tech sector. Seagate is up 10% on strong earnings and an upgrade. Fairchild Semi is higher on better than expected earnings. F5 Networks and Cypress Semi are higher on upgrades. Google, Apple, and a number of other big techs are lower this morning. After the open, the averages gave up their gains. The financials are mixed this morning. The big banks are lower even as Goldman Sachs provided strong earnings this morning. Legg Mason is lower after missing estimates. A couple of regional banks look good including Keycorp, Fifth Third, Raymond James, Knight Capital after beating estimates. Sallie Mae is higher following better than expected earnings last night. M&T Bank is up 2% on an upgrade. Metlife is lower on a downgrade. The commodities moved lower along with the averages as the morning progressed. Freeport McMoRan is down 6% even though they beat estimates. In the retail sector Under Armour and Panera Bread are higher on upgrades. Dreamworks is higher on an upgrade. After the first hour the Dow dropped over 100 points. The Nasdaq declined 20 points. The financials are weak ahead of a speech by the President regarding taxing the banks. The concern was well founded as the President layed out his plan to limit the power and influence of big banks sending them and the major averages lower. The Dow dropped 200 points. The Nasdaq declined 25 points. Here we go again. Through the afternoon the markets tried to dissect what in the world the President meant regarding his speech regarding the big banks. The President has caused a mess on Wallstreet. Late afternoon Congressman Barney Frank tried to explain the President's speech more articulately indicating that the new rules for banks will be phased in over the next three to five years. If that's true, then Wallstreet can breath a sigh of relief. In fact, after the Barney Frank speech the averages did improve slightly, but then sold off in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 213 points, or 2%, at 10,389. The S&P 500 Index shed 21 points, or 1.9%, to close at 1,116. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 25 points, or 1.1%, to end at 2,265. The Dow and the Nasdaq are now in the red for the year. The S&P 500 is up one point for the year.
January 20, 2010
U.S. stocks fell sharply at the start thanks to disappointing housing data and profit taking following better than expected earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 101 points to 10,623. The S&P 500 Index declined 9 points to 1,140. The Nasdaq Composite Index lapsed 20 points to 2,300. After the open, the averages pushed lower due to profit-taking. IBM is down 4% following great earnings and a number of upgrades. Go figure. Cisco Systems, Google, NetAppliance, Intel, and BMC Software all received upgrades yet all are lower. Tensions continue to brew between Google and Apple as Apple may team up with Microsoft to promote their Bing search engine. One stock bucking the trend is Cree jumping 15% following blow out earnings. After the first hour the Dow dropped 150 points. The Nasdaq declined 30 points. One sector holding up well is the financials. A majority of the banks are beating estimates including M&T Bank, Northern Trust, Jefferies, Wells Fargo, US Bancorp, State Street, and Bank of New York Mellon. All are higher. Bank of America missed, but is higher. Charles Schwab is down 2% after missing estimates. Citigroup is modestly lower on an upgrade. Other companies reporting earnings include Big Lots, Coach, and AMR. All three are lower. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remained weak. Entering the last hour, the Dow was down 135 points. The Nasdaq was down 35 points. The financials are holding in there, but everything else is weak. Not a pretty day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 122 points at 10,603. The S&P 500 Index shed 12 points to 1,138. The Nasdaq Composite declined 29 points to 2,291.
January 19, 2010
U.S. stocks shed opening losses to turn mildly up on Tuesday as investors braced for corporate earnings including results from IBM after the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9 points to 10,619. The S&P 500 added 2 points to 1,148. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 8 points to 2,316. So far the techs look good. IBM is making a new high ahead of earnings tonight. Sandisk, Apple, Ciena, Google, and Micron all received upgrades. All are trading higher. Apple reports earnings tomorrow. The financials opened lower, except for a few. TD Ameritrade is up 4% after reporting earnings this morning. Citigroup is unchanged on in line earnings. Genworth, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo all received cautious analyst comments causing the stock to open lower. However all three recovered after the first hour. After the first hour the averages kicked in, rallying 80 points in the Dow and 20 points in the Nasdaq. In the commodity space, U.S. Steel is up 4% on an upgrade. The fertilizers are lower even though Potash was upgraded. In the retail space Lowes, Home Depot, and McDonalds were all upgrded. All three are higher. Burger King is lower on a downgrade. On the earnings front Parker-Hannifin and Tyco, and Forest Labs are all higher after beating estimates. On the merger front Cadbury did an about face and agreed to a merger with Kraft. Cadbury is up 5% while Kraft is down a percent. Through the morning and into the afternoon the Dow rose over 100 points. The Nasdaq rallied 26 points. Through the afternoon and into the last hour the averages remained strong getting back most of the losses on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 115 points at 10,725. The S&P 500 Index added 14 points to 1,150. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 32 points to 2,320.
January 18, 2010
Markets closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day