The Week In Review
2/15-2/19/10
February 19, 2010U.S. stocks opened moderately lower on Friday as investors reacted to the Federal Reserves move towards normalized lending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 27 points to 10,365. The S&P 500 Index fell 4 points to 1,102. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 8 points to 2,233. The losses seem to have been tempered since the Fed's announcement last night. The financials open modestly lower, but not by much. Charles Schwab was upgraded, but the stock is modestly lower. Morningstar is lower after missing estimates while Huntsman is jumping 6% after easily beating earnings estimates. The techs are lower following disappointing earnings from Dell last night. Dell is down 7%. A couple of techs are higher including Adobe which was upgraded this morning. The commodities are modestly lower thanks in part to a rebound in the U.S. dollar. Freeport McMoRan is up a percent on an upgrade. The retailers look good this morning. Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and JC Penney are both up over 4% following earnings. Best Buy is higher on an upgrade. Anheuser Busch is lower on a downgrade. After the first hour the averages were modestly lower, however the financials have rebounded. Through the morning the averages improved with both the Dow and the Nasdaq moving into the green. In the afternoon more of the same. For an option expiration it's pretty quiet. In the last hour the averages sold off then rebounded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 9 points at 10,402, giving it a weekly gain of 3%. The S&P 500 Index climbed 2 points to 1,109, up 3.1% from the week-ago close. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 2 points to 2,243, leaving it up 2.8% for the week.
February 18, 2010
U.S. stocks open mixed following a report jobless claims unexpectedly rose while inflation increased more than forecasted last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 3 points to 10,312. Walmart is down a percent even though they beat earnings estimates. The S&P 500 Index inched up half a point to 1,099 while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2 points to 2,224. Plenty of earnings keep flooding in. Most of the companies continue to beat estimates, but not all stocks are trading higher. Priceline, Analog Devices, AXA, DirecTV, Salesforce.com, and Hormel Foods are all higher following earnings. Peets Coffee, Nvidia, Applied Materials, Wellcare, Noble Energy, MGM Mirage, Cabela's, Windstream, and Apache are lower following earnings. After the first hour the Dow rose 20 points thanks in part to the financials. The Nasdaq is quiet as the techs are mixed. After the first hour the averages remained in the green as it seems a number of stocks are perking up. It looks like money is coming in to the markets. Through the afternoon the averages kept improving. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 83 points at 10,392. The S&P 500 Index gained 7 points to 1,106. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 15 points to 2,241.
February 17, 2010
U.S. stocks started higher on Wednesday after positive data on the housing market and better than expected earnings from equipment maker Deere. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 35 points to 10,304. Deere is up 6% following earnings and an upgrade. The S&P 500 Index rose 3 points to 1,098. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 7 points to 2,221. Other companies reporting good earnings include Wholefoods, La-Z-Boy, Devon Energy, Office Max, ING, Martha Stewart, and Dollar Thrifty. All are trading higher. Genzyme, XTO Energy, and Owens Corning are modestly lower following earnings. Plenty of upgrades this morning. Two tech stocks Microsoft and Intel are modestly higher on upgrades. Most of the techs are quiet. Research in Motion and Motorola are lower even though Broadpoint Amtech made positive comments. In the retail space Fossil, Wholefoods, Home Depot, Mattel, and Talbots were all upgraded. Talbots and Coinstar also raised guidance. The financials are modestly higher following a strong rally yesterday. Prudential is up 1.5% on an upgrade. In an SEC filing a number of big name investors like George Soros, Eddie Lampert, and John Paulson increased their stakes in names like Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. All three are higher. After the first hour the averages remained in the green. The Dow remained up 25 points while the Nasdaq was up 10 points. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remained modestly in the green, but it seems that most stocks are in the red. The techs are struggling except for IBM. Through the day the averages tried to sell off, but rebounded each time. Resilient. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 40 points at 10,309. The S&P 500 Index gained 4 points to 1,099, while the Nasdaq Composite added 12 points to 2,226.
February 16, 2010
U.S. stocks opened strongly higher on Tuesday, with rising commodity prices pulling material and energy companies higher. European markets performed well this morning even though the debt of Greece remains a big issue. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71 points to 10,171. The S&P 500 Index rose 8 points to 1,084. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 14 points to 2,198. Everything looks pretty good this morning. As mentioned the commodities are strong. The fertilizers are sharply higher thanks to encouraging results from CF Industries. Chevron and Anadarko Petro are both up over 2% on upgrades. Transocean is up a percent after announcing a share buyback. The techs are performing well. Dell, Intel, and Autodesk are higher on upgrades. Research in Motion is lower by 2% as their CEO warns of a smartphone bandwidth crisis in the coming years. The financials opened higher, but remain a weak link in this rebound. Barclays is strong, jumping 10% on strong earnings. Deutsche Bank is up 3% on an upgrade. Capital One is up 3% on an upgrade. Allstate is up a percent on an upgrade, while Lincoln Financial is down a percent on a downgrade. The REIT sector is modestly higher on news Simon Property is bidding $10 billion for the bankrupt General Growth Properties. The retail sector is mixed this morning. Fossil is up 6% after easily beating earnings estimates. Waste Management and Abercrombie & Fitch are both up over 2% on earnings. Darden Restaurants is up 3% after the company raised estimates. Gap is lower on a downgrade. After the first hour the Dow remained strong up 80 points. The Nasdaq remained up 14 points. Through the morning the averages kept pushing higher. The Dow rose over 120 points into the lunch hour. The Nasdaq improved by 23 points. The financials have perked up, helping lift the averages. Through the afternoon the averages inched higher closing near the highs of the day. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average finished up 169 points, or 1.7%, at 10,268. The S&P 500 Index rose 19 points, or 1.8%, to 1,094. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 30 points, or 1.4%, to 2,214.
February 15, 2010
Markets closed for President's Day