The Week In Review
4/5-4/9/10
April 9, 2010U.S. stocks opened higher Friday for a second day of gains as worries about Greece's debt ebbed. The energy sector paced the gains as crude oil neared $86 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 17 points to 10,944. The S&P 500 Index climbed 2 points to 1,188. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose half a point to 2,437. The financials look good ahead of earnings season next week. Bond insurer, Ambac is jumping 76% after reporting a quarterly profit. Rival MBIA is up 5%. The techs are mixed. Everyone is expecting good earnings next week from the chip sector. Intel is modestly higher on an upgrade. Fairchild Semi and Salesforce.com were also upgraded. Apple continues to perform well, but Google can't seem to get going. The retail space continues to receive good news. Aeropostale, Gymboree, Gap, Talbots, Target, and JC Penney all received upgrades this morning. JC Penney is up 3%. The commodities are performing well. Atlas Energy is up 19% after signing a new big contract with India. After the first half an hour the averages remain in the green. So far so good. After the first hour the averages remain in the green, but the financials have given up their gains. In the afternoon the averages improved without the financials. A select number of stocks are not participating including Google, Freeport McMorRan, GE, and Walmart. Alcoa is down ahead of earnings on Monday due to a downgrade. In the last hour the averages made a run with the Dow touching 11,000 for the first time since the fall of 2008.The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 70 points, or 0.6%, at 10,997, up 0.6% for the week. The S&P 500 Index rose 7 points, or 0.7%, to 1,194.37, for a weekly rise of 1.4%. The Nadaq Composite Index gained 17 points, or 0.7%, to 2,454, up 2.1% from the prior week's close.
April 8, 2010
U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday amid on ongoing retreat after a near uninterrupted two-month streak of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 38 points to 10,859. The S&P 500 Index declined 5 points to 1,176. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 11 points to 2,419. One group not selling off are the retailers. The sector reported great same store sales this morning another good sign the economy is recovering. Gap, Target, Ross Stores, TJX, Pier One, and Aeropostale are all performing well thanks to strong sales and good guidance. Bed, Bath, & Beyond and Hot Topic are higher on upgrades. Outside the retail sector, the broader market is struggling. Most techs are lower except for Microsoft. BMC Software is up 4% on an upgrade. In the airline industry, US Airways and United Airlines are higher on rumors of merger talks. In the drug space Forest Labs is down 4% as they may not receive FDA approval for their pulmonary drug. After the first hour the averages remain in the red. The financials opened lower, but are now creeping into the green. Similar to yesterday, the averages clawed their way back to the unchanged level led by the financials. During the lunch hour a rally ensued. A resilient market. In the last hour the averages held their gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 29 points at 10,927. The S&P 500 Index added 3 points to 1,186. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 5 points to 2,436.
April 7, 2010
U.S. stocks offered an opening dip on Wednesday with no economic data to drive momentum. Not far from the 11,000 level, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been range-bound in recent days. On Wednesday, the Dow fell 37 points to 10,932. The S&P 500 Index declined 3 points to 1,186. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 5 points to 2,431. One sector that continues to perform well are the banks, in particular the regional banks. KeyCorp is up 4% on an upgrade. Suntrust is higher on an upgrade as well. M&T Bank is modestly lower following cautious comments from Barrons Online. The techs are quiet this morning. Apple, Cisco, Dell, and Research in Motion are modestly higher. Nokia, NCR, and EMC are higher on upgrades. On the earnings front, Family Dollar is up 4% following earnings. Monsanto and Greenbrier are modestly lower following earnings. After the first half an hour the Dow remained in the red, but the Nasdaq was unchanged. As the morning progressed, the Dow declined further. Dow 11,000 is looking like resistance. The Nasdaq fell back into the red. Heading into the lunch hour the Nasdaq rebounded to the unchanged level. The Dow is recovering, but remains in the red. The commodities are weak today. In the afternoon, one Fed official made comments that they should be raising rates. Those commentws gave investors a perfect opportunity to take some profits. The Dow dropped over 100 points before recovering in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 72 points at 10,897. The S&P 500 dropped 6 points to 1,182. The Nasdaq Composite declined 5 points to 2,431.
April 6, 2010
U.S. stocks started lower on Tuesday after two days of gains. Investors are anticipating the minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting to be released this afternoon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 37 points to 10,935. The S&P 500 Index declined 3 points to 1,183. The Nasdaq Composite Index lapsed 9 points to 2,420. Nothing really looks good this morning. A number of upgrades in the tech sector, but it isn't helping. Intel, Cisco Systems, Nvidia, and Google received upgrades, but all four are lower. Research in Motion is rebounding following a number of down days. The financials opened lower, but are battling back. Regions Financial is up 3% on an upgrade. Wells Fargo upgraded the big banks. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs had their numbers cut once again. On the earnings front, Auto Nation is up 2% after better than expected numbers. After the first hour the averages remain in the red, but not by much. Disney made a new 52 week high on an upgrade this morning. The dog of the day goes to Massey Energy. The stock is down 9% after an explosion in one of their West Virginia mines that killed 25 workers. Through the morning the averages slowly recovered. The Russell 2000, S&P Mid-Cap 400, S&P 500, and the financial index are all making new 52 week highs. In the afternoon the averages turned to the green. The financials still look good. In the last hour the Dow gave up it's gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 3 points at 10,969. The S&P 500 index rose 2 points to 1,189. The financials sector led the gains on the broad index, rising 1%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 7 points to 2,436.
April 5, 2010
U.S. stocks held their gains Monday after a trade group reported an 8.2% increase in pending home sales in February and another report showed improvement in the services sector in March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 34 points to 10,961. The S&P 500 Index climbed 5 points to 1,183. The Nasdaq Composite added 16 points to 2,419. Apple is in the news releasing their Ipad over the weekend. Six analysts made comments on the stock including two raising their price target over $300 a share. The rest of the techs look good. The chips continue to perform well. Intel received positive comments this morning from Amtech. Google, EMC, and Juniper Networks are higher on upgrades. The financials look good this morning. Wells Fargo, RF Financial, Zions Bancorp, and M&T Bank were all upgraded. Longtop Financial is up 2% after getting approval to enter China. Genworth, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs are higher even though they all received cautious comments from at least one analyst. Hartford Financial is higher on an upgrade. The retail sector received plenty of comments this morning. Kohls, American Eagle, and Gymboree are all up 3% on positive analyst comments. Urban Outfitters, Decker Outdoors, and Gap are also higher on upgrades. After the first hour the averages made new highs for the year. The Dow rose 50 points to 10980. The Nasdaq rose 22 points. Everything is looking good. Through the morning the averages remain in the green, but off the highs. In the afternoon the averages pulled back a little bit into the Tiger Woods news conference, but then rebounded in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 46 points at 10,973. The S&P 500 Index climbed 9 points to 1,187. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 26 points to 2,429.