The Week In Review
4/12-4/16/10
April 16, 2010Todays a day for profit-taking after six days in a row of gains. Worries about the future growth of Internet giant Google and the good earnings news priced into shares of Bank of America and GE have the averages selling off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13 points to 11,130. The S&P 500 declined 3 points to 1,207. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 9 points to 2,506. Google is down 5%, Bank of America is down a percent, and GE is lower by 2%. Very few stocks are in the green even though the news is great. In the tech sector Dell and IBM are modestly higher thanks to upgrades. Everything else is lower. Intel is lower. AMD is down 6% following earnings. Nvidia is down 5% due to a downgrade. The financials are seeing some good profit-taking this morning. American Express is lower even though credit losses are improving. XL Capital is unchanged on an upgrade. Visa and Mastercard are modestly lower on downgrades. Charles Schwab modestly lower on a positive article on Barrons Online. After the first hour the averages dropped sharply following fraud charges against Goldman Sachs from the SEC. Goldman dropped a quick 7% within minutes. In the retail space Krispy Kreme is lower even though they made money. Callaway is lower on in line earnings. Christopher & Bank is modestly lower after beating estimates. Mattel is higher following earnings. Walmart and Gamestop are modestly higher on upgrades. Through the morning the over hang from Goldman's SEC charges sent the averages lower. The Dow dropped over 100 points. The Nasdaq declined 36 points. The financial index is down nearly 4%. Ouch. In the afternoon the Dow dropped over 150 points below 11000. Coke is the only Dow component trading higher. No rebound in the financials. Very few stocks are in the green. Through the afternoon the averages stabilized. Now four Dow components are in the green including IBM which reports earnings on Monday. In the
last hour the averages sold back off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 125 points, or 1.1%, at 11,018. The S&P 500 index fell 19 points, or 1.6%, to 1,192, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 34 points, or 1.4%, to 2,481. For the week, the broad S&P 500 fell 0.2%, interrupting 6 straight week of gains. The Dow industrials gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq rose 1.1% on the week.
April 15, 2010
U.S. stocks on Thursday started slightly lower after a five-day climb, with the market offering tepid reaction to mixed economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17 points to 11,105. The S&P 500 Index dropped a point to 1,209. The Nasdaq Composite held a fractional gain at 2,505. For a second straight day the earnings are great. UPS is the diamond of the day up 4% after raising guidance last night. Another transporter, JB Hunt is jumping 3% after beating earnings estimates last night. Yum Brands is up 3% after beating estimates. A few stocks are trading lower following earnings including MGM, Alliance Financial, Fairchild Semi, and Novellus. Plenty of upgrades this morning in the retail space. The list includes Gap, Saks, Nordstrom, Tiffanys, and Nike. Only Gap is modestly higher. After the first hour the averages remain near the unchanged level. Investors seem to be exhausted after a big run up. One sector that continues to perform well is the techs. Intel is up nearly 3% to new highs after CNBC's Cramer made bullish comments last night. Google is higher ahead of earnings tonight. Apple is at another new high. A select number of financials are higher this morning. Citigroup hit $5 for the first time since August. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, and US Bancorp all made new highs this morning. In the afternoon the averages nugged into the green led by the techs. The financials pulled back in the last hour. Citigroup is down 6% from the highs this morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 21 points at 11,144, a fresh closing high for the year. The S&P 500 index rose a point to 1,211 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 10 points to close at 2,515.
April 14, 2010
Earnings season is upon us and so far so good. Better than expected earnings from Intel, CSX, and JP Morgan are helping push the S&P 500 above 1,200 for the first time since late September 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 31 points to 11,050. The S&P 500 Index rose 4 points to 1,201. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 15 points to 2,481. Intel, CSX, and JP Morgan are all jumping 3% to new highs. Intel received at least four upgrades this morning. Both the tech and financial sectors are performing great with plenty of new highs. In the tech sector Apple is at new highs after running out of iPads. Kulicke & Soffa is jumping 19% to new highs after raising forecasts. Ericcson, Redhat, and Microsoft are higher on upgrades. With the financials Bank of America, US Bancorp, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo are at new highs. UBS and Goldman Sachs are higher on upgrades. Even the retail banks are higher after getting hit yesterday. In the retail space AnnTaylor, Lowes, and McDonalds are higher on upgrades. Family Dollar and Hot Topic are higher after Cramer recommended them. After the first hour the averages remained strong near the highs of the day. The financials and techs look great. One sector not participating are the fertilizer stocks following Goldman Sachs comments indicating pricing weakness. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages crept higher led by the techs and financials. Research in Motion moved into the green after announcing a billion dollar buyback. In the middle of the afternoon the averages pushed to new highs following better than expected economic activity released in the Fed's Beige Book. The financials and techs keep pushing higher. One tech not rallying is Google ahead of earnings tomorrow. In the last hour the averages pushed to new highs with the Dow rising 100 points. The Nasdaq rose 37 points. A real bull market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 103 points at 11,123. The S&P 500 Index closed up 13 points at 1,210, its first finish above 1,200 since Sept. 26, 2008. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 38 points at 2,504.
April 13, 2010
U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday for the first day in four after aluminum giant Alcoa reported results short of Wall Street's expectations. Back under 11,000, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 18 points to 10,987. The S&P 500 Index shed 2 points to 1,193. The Nasdaq Composite declined 3 points to 2,454. Alcoa has started the earnings season and Intel will keep it going today. Intel is modestly higher ahead of their numbers tonight as a couple analysts make positive comments. After the open, the techs were the first sector to rebound. Besides Intel, Google, Apple, Ciena, Western Digital, Seagate, Cisco, Juniper, Research in Motion, and Red Hat were all upgraded. I guess the techs are going to have a good quarter. The big question is how much has been priced into the market? The retail sector continues to perform well. Talbots is jumping 7% following earnings. Crocs and DSW are higher following upgrades. One sector getting hit this morning are the regional banks. UBS downgraded a number of the regionals including Huntington Bancshares, KeyCorp, and Regions Financial. All are lower. The big banks are faring much better. JP Morgan is modestly higher ahead of earnings tomorrow. After the first half an hour the averages remain in the red, but a number of techs and a select number of financials are in the green. Through the morning the averages sold back off along with the commodities. The US dollar is improving. Through the morning into the afternoon the averages slowly improved, moving into the green led by the techs. Google, Intel, and Research in Motion are performing well. Intel is at a new high anticipating good earnings news after the close. In the last hour the averages once again clung to gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 13 points at 11,019. The S&P 500 Index rose nearly a point to 1,197, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 8 points to 2,465.
April 12, 2010
U.S. stocks on Monday struggled to maintain opening gains ahead of the unofficial start of earnings season, which kicks off with aluminum giant Alcoa after the close. Trading at 18-month highs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12 points to 11,010. The S&P 500 Index climbed 2 points to 1,196. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 3 points to 2,457. A big, big week for the markets. In the tech space, Intel is unchanged ahead of earnings tomorrow. Intel received two upgrades. Texas Instruments is up 2.5% on an upgrade. Google, EMC, and Fairchild Semi are higher on upgrades. Apple is at another new high. Network Appliance is lower on a downgrade. The financials are modestly higher this morning. JP Morgan, Charles Schwab, Bank of America, and GE report earnings this week. In the retail space Abercrombie, Sanderson Farms, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Chicos, Gap, and Dicks were all upgraded. Decker Outdoors is down 4% on a downgrade. A number of Dow components received upgrades including Caterpillar and AT&T. Time Warner and St. Jude Medical were also upgraded this morning. After the first hour the Dow remained in the green up 20 points. The Nasdaq is only up a point. Through the morning the averages did not budge. Investors are awaiting earnings reports later this week. In the afternoon more of the same. Microsoft released their new phone which is geared toward texters and not talkers. Rivals Research in Motion, Google, Apple rallied following the release. In the last hour the averages fought to hold their gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 8 points at 11,005. The S&P 500 Index rose 2 points to 1,196. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 3 points to 2,457.