The Week In Review
2/22-2/26/10
February 26, 2010U.S. stocks opened in an indecisive fashion on Friday after insurer American International Group reported a worse-than-expected loss and the government said the economy grew at a more rapid pace than previously estimated in the fourth quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13 points to 10,307. The S&P 500 Index declined a point to 1,101. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 3 points to 2,231. AIG is trading down 8%. It looks like they need more government money. On the flip side, the retailers are doing pretty well. Deckers Outdoors is up 8% following great sales of Huggs. Gap is up 5% on better than expected earnings. Besy Buy was upgraded, but the stock is lower. Croc's however is lower by 12% following disappointing results. In the tech sector Rosetta Stone is jumping 29% following earnings. Apple is higher on an upgrade. Novell is down 2% on in line results. Palm and Motorola are lower on downgrades. After the first hour the averages moved into the green. The financials moved into the green while the techs improved. Volume may be light due to the big Northeast winter storm. Through the morning the averages did not vacillated far from the unchanged level. Very little volatility. In the afternoon more of the same. The averages did not move more than 5 or 10 points. The techs are performing well. Apple is up 1.4% on an upgrade. The financials are also performing well. JP Morgan is up 3.5% on an upgrade. In the last hour the averages rallied a little then sold off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 4 points to 10,325, giving it a monthly gain of 2.6% and 0.7% loss for the week. The S&P 500 Index added a point to 1,104, up 2.9% for February and off 0.4% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 4 points to 2,238, up 4.2% for February and down 0.3% for the week.
February 25, 2010
The markets dropped on the open due to an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims and sovereign debt troubles overseas. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 158 points to 10,215. The S&P 500 Index declined 16 points to 1,088. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 33 points to 2,202. The averages look awful, but there are a few stocks trading higher. Limited, Blackstone, Cablevision, Dr. Pepper Snapple, Hyatt Hotel, Kohls, Newmont Mining, Cartiers, Mylan, and Steven Madden are all higher following earnings. A number of stocks were upgraded and trading higher including Big Lots, CME Group, and Nike. On the downside we have Blockbuster, Salesforce.com, Heinz, Dynegy, Safeway, Foster Wheeler, KBR, and Tim Hortons following earnings. Palm is down 17% after lowering guidance. That's not good. After the first hour the averages remain weak near the lows of the day. Coke is trading down 3% after agreeing to buy back their North America bottling company. Coke Enterprises is up 32% on that news. Through the morning the averages remained weak near the lows of the day. In the afternoon more of the same. One sector perking up is the commodities. Gold has turned around. As the afternoon progressed the averages slowly improved. Apple rebounded on rumors of a stock split. In the last hout the averages continued to slowly improve with a few more stocks moving into the green. The commodities look good. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 53 points at 10,321. The S&P 500 Index shed 2 points to end at 1,102, while the Nasdaq Composite Index lost a point to close at 2,234.
February 24, 2010
U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday as investors waited to hear Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's report to Congress. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45 points to 10,327. The S&P 500 Index rose 5 points to 1,099. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 13 points to 2,227. More earnings keep coming in. In the tech sector Autodesk is jumping 8% following strong earnings. Plenty of upgrades in the tech sector including Autodesk, Juniper Networks, Marvell, Broadcom, Research in Motion, Apple, Redhat, and Salesforce.com. All are trading higher. The financials are rebounding after getting hit yesterday. Eaton Vance is up 2% following earnings. H&R Block is down 17% after missing estimates. AXA Financial is down a percent on a downgrade. Toll Brothers is lower even though they beat estimates. The retail sector is mixed this morning. TJX, Zales, and Dreamworks are higher following earnings, but Saks, Chicos, Garmin, and JM Smuckers are lower following earnings. Under Armour and Darden Restaurant are higher on upgrades. In the first half an hour the Dow jumped 70 points, however, the rally was short-lived. At 10 o'clock weak housing data and cautious comments from the Fed Chairman sent the averages lower, giving up most of the gains. Through the morning the averages battled back with the Dow jumping 80 points. The Nasdaq improved by 21 points. The banks are showing a nice rebound. In the afternoon the averages remained strong rallying into the close wiping out most of yesterday's losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 91 points at 10,374. The S&P 500 Index rose 10 points to 1,105. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 22 points to 2,235.
February 23, 2010
U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Tuesday following a flood of corporate earnings and ahead of a consumer confidence number. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7 points to 10,375. The S&P 500 Index shed a point to 1,106. The Nasdaq Composite declined 5 points to 2,236. The earnings keep coming in better than expected, however, investors are in a selling mood. Stocks trading lower following earnings include Brocade, Nordstrom, Radio Shack, Barnes & Noble, Macys, Tenet Healthcare, Liz Claiborne, Medco, Orbitz, Sanderson Farms, Target, and St. Joe. A couple of retailers are higher following earnings including Sears, Home Depot, and Office Depot. The techs for the most part are trading lower. Palm is down 7% on a downgrade. Corning is down 3% on a downgrade. Research in Motion received an upgrade, but the stock is lower. Juniper Networks is lower as well even though they announced a $1 billion share buyback. The financials are holding firm and outperforming the broader market once again. Mortgage insurer, Radian Group is jumping 18% after easily beating estimates. That's helping competitors like Genworth. At 10 o'clock
the consumer confidence number fell though the roof sending the averages sharply lower. The Dow dropped 60 points. The Nasdaq declined 25 points. Very few stocks remain in the green. Through the morning more of the same. The averages remained weak with few stocks in the green. The notable few in the green include Goldman Sachs, Home Depot, office Depot, Kraft, Radian, and Walmart. In the afternoon the Dow dropped 100 points. The Nasdaq declined 32 points. Nothing looks good. The U.S. dollar is higher sending commodities lower. In the last hour no bounce for the averages. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100 points, or 1%, to 10,282. The S&P 500 Index declined 13 points, or 1.2%, to end at 1,094, while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 28 points to finished at 2,213.
February 22, 2010
U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, extending gains into a fifth day, with investor sentiment lifted by a large deal in the energy sector in addition to better-than-expected results from home-improvement retailer Lowe's. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2 points to 10,404. The S&P 500 Index climbed a point to 1,110. The Nasdaq Composite added 2 points to 2,245. A quiet morning so far. Lowes is only modestly higher following earnings. Schlumberger is down 6% following the announcement over the weekend they will buy Smith International for $11 billion. Smith International is trading up 6%. Financials seem to be the best sector so far this morning. JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are all higher on positive comments from Oppenheimer and in the Wall Street Journal. H&R Block is down 5% on a downgrade. The techs are mixed. Oracle is higher on positive comments regarding the SunMirco merger. Dell is down a percent on an upgrade. Research in Motion is lower on cautious comments. At 10 o'clock, the President outlined more taxes for his healthcare reform causing the averages to sell off. However they did recover after the first hour. Through the rest of the morning the averages stayed just below the unchanged level. The financials are the one sector performing well. Another potential merger was announced during the lunch hour. Life science company, Millipore went halted and then reopened up 35% on a takeover bid. Through the afternoon the averages remained near the unchanged level, selling off a little into the close. The financials remain the strongest sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 18 points at 10,383. The S&P 500 Index shed a point to 1,108. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined a point to 2,242.