The Week In Review
5/17-5/21/10
May 21, 2010U.S. stocks on Friday started to rally following a sharp opening drop, with investors reacting to a reverse higher by Europe's common currency, the euro. Still on track for weekly losses of 5% and more, the major indexes edged up less than 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gain 28 points to 10,096. The S&P 500 Index rose 8 points to 1,079. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 11 points to 2,215. The news isn't much different from yesterday, but investors are in a much better mood. The financials traded higher shortly after the open with the Senate voting on their bank reform bill last night. Wells Fargo is up 4% after the Treasury sold their warrants in the big bank. Keycorp is up 5% on an upgrade. The commodities are perfroming well after getting clobbered the last several weeks. Freeport McMoRan is jumping 6%. The oils are higher expect for BP. A number of techs reported earnings last night including Dell, Marvell, and Salesforce.com. All three traded lower last night, but only Dell is trading lower this morning. In the retail space Gap, Pacific Sunwear, Ann Taylor, Red Robin Gourmet Burger, and Aeropostale all beat expectations. Red Robin and Pacific Sunwear are lower, but the other three are higher. William Sonoma is higher on an upgrade. Through the morning the rally started to kick in. The Dow jumped 50 points. The Nasdaq rose 25 points. The financials are up over 2.5%. The techs look good except for Google. Google keeps pushing lower. During the lunch hour the Dow rose over a 100 points before pulling back. very few stocks are in the red. In the tech sector Dell, Microsoft, and Cisco System are in the red. Google actually moved into the green after the FTC gave them permission to acquire AdMob. In the middle of the afternoon the averages gave up a lot of their gains. Entering the last hour the averages were clinging to minor gains. This is not a good bounce. In the last hour the averages did fall into the red, but no heavy selling. The sellers are aghausted. In the last 15 minutes the Dow went from unchanged to up 100 points, closing at the highs of the day. I did not see that coming. Some of this must be attributed to todays option expiration. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 125 points, or 1.3%, to 10,193, with a 5.9% gain in J.P. Morgan Chase leading the index higher. The S&P 500 added 16 points, or 1.5%, to 1,087, with a more than 3% surge in financials leading all industry groups higher. The Nasdaq Composite added 25 points, or 1.1%, to 2,229. For the week, however, the Dow lost 4%, the S&P 500 fell 4.2% and the Nasdaq slid 5%.
May 20, 2010
U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday, extending losses into a third day, as investors sold a broad range of assets while watching Europe's worsening sovereign debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 188 points to 10,256. The S&P 500 Index declined 24 points to 1,090. The Nasdaq Composite declined 55 points at 2,242.8. Nothing looks good today as the buyers are on the sidelines waiting to come in. As bad as the markets are, the earnings remain great and most analysts are in a good mood. In the retail space Gymboree, Petsmart, Ross Stores, Dollar Tree, William Sonoma, Staples, Sears, BonTon, Childrens Place, and Buckle all reported better than expected earnings. Only Gymboree, Childrens Place, and William Sonoma are higher. Tiffany is raising their dividend, but the stock is lower. In the tech sector Applied Materials and Autodesk both beat earnings estimates, but both are trading lower. Google keeps pushing lower. Apple, Research in Motion, and Amazon were upgraded, but all three are lower. Symantec is lower on a downgrade. After the first half an hour the averages pushed lower. No bounces. FedEx and UPS were upgraded this morning, yet both are lower. The earnings and economic news is all good, but investors are focused on the debt crisis in Europe. In the first hour the Dow fell 300 points and then rebounded a little. Through the morning the averages remain weak, but off the lows. During the lunch hour the averages retested the lows with the Dow down over 300 points. In the afternoon the Dow recovered a little into the last hour, but then sold off into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 376 points, or 3.6%, at 10,068. The drop was worse than the triple-digit loss the Dow suffered May 6. The S&P 500 lost 43 points, or 3.9%, at 1,071, led by financials, industrials and energy. The Nasdaq Composite fell 94 or 4.1%, to 2,204. All three indexes are now in a 10%
correction.
May 19, 2010
U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Wednesday as investors tracked the euro, which rebounded off a four-year low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45 points to 10,465. The S&P 500 Index declined 4 points to 1,116. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 6 points to 2,311. The averages are lower, but a number of stocks are higher. In the retail space Deere is jumping 3% on blow out earnings. Target, BJs, and DirecTV are higher following earnings. Macys, JC Penney, Dreamworks, and Dicks are higher on upgrades. Chicos, Polo, and Hormel Foods are lower following earnings. Under Armour and TJX are lower on downgrades. A number of banks are modestly higher thanks to easing concerns regarding the financial reform package. The techs opened higher thanks to strong earnings from HP, but then sold off. Google pushes lower. Intel was upgraded, but the stock is lower. HP and Analog Devices remain higher following earnings. The commodities are weak. The fertilizers were upgraded, but the stocks are lower. Gold and oil are lower as well. In the first hour the averages recovered their losses and then sold off to new lows. Through the morning the averages remained weak with only a hand full of banks, drug stocks, and techs in the green. In the afternoon the averages remained weak, but off the lows. The financials have perked up as the Senate delays the vote of the bank reform. In the last hour the averages kept recovering led by the financials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 66 points, or 0.6%, at 10,444. The S&P 500 fell 5 points to 1,115. The Nasdaq Composite slid 18 points to 2,298.
May 18, 2010
U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, continuing Wall Street's late bounce back the prior day, as Walmart Stores beat forecasts, as did housing starts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69 points to 10,694. The S&P 500 Index gained 8 points to 1,145. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 14 points to 2,368. Walmart is jumping 2% following earnings. Saks, Home Depot, and Dicks are higher following earnings as well. Valspar, Zions Bancorp, Apple, Salesforce.com, Blackrock, and Textron are higher on upgrades. In the tech sector Google opened higher, but then sold off. Within the financials, Goldman Sachs is lower. BB&T and US Bancorp are both down over 2% following downgrades. After the first hour the Dow remained in the green, but the Nasdaq started to sell off. As the morning progressed the Nasdaq fell into the red. The chips are particularly weak. More of the financials are selling off. Entering the lunch hour the averages fell into the red. The averages recovered during the lunch hour, but then sold back off as the afternoon progressed. The Dow dropped as much as 140 points before recovering a little in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 114 points at 10,510. The S&P 500 fell 16 points, or 1.4%, to 1,120 led by a drop in the financial sector as credit-card stocks sank on fears of new bank legislation. The Nasdaq Composite slid 36 points, or 1.6%, to 2,317.
May 17, 2010
U.S. stocks opened tentatively higher on Monday as caution prevailed amid worry over the health of the Europe's economy and a 5% decline in the Shanghai Index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36 points to 10,656. The S&P 500 Index added 5 points to 1,141. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 14 points to 2,361. Last Monday we rallied 400 points. We may not get that today. On the earnings front Lowes is down 4% even though they beat estimates. The stock has had a nice run up. Home Depot is down in sympathy. Paint company, Valspar is up 5% after easily beating estimates. Sirius Satellite is higher on an upgrade. In the tech sector Dell and HP are higher on upgrades. Corning is trading higher while Google continues its' downward trend. The financials open higher, but then sold off. Visa and Mastercard remain in the green on upgrades. In the commodity space Shell and Apache are higher on upgrades. BP is modestly lower on more negative press regarding the oil spill. After the first half an hour the Dow sold off into the red. The Nasdaq sold off then rebounded. Through the morning the averages pushed lower as the correction takes hold. The Dow fell 90 points. The Nasdaq declined 15 points. Only a hand full of stocks are in the green. Entering the lunch hour the selling accelerated with the Dow dropping 150 points. The Nasdaq declined over 30 points. After the quick sell off, the averages slowly recovered in the afternoon. In the last hour the rally accelerated with the averages recovering all the losses. A wild ride. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 5 points at 10,625, led by a 1.7% gain in Kraft Foods and a 1.5% rise in AT&T. The S&P 500 ended up a point at 1136. The Nasdaq rose 7 points to 2354.