The Week In Review
7/12-7/16/10
July 16, 2010U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday after Bank of America, Citigroup, and General Electric reported revenue below what Wall Street expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 57 points to 10,302. The S&P 500 Index dropped 8 points to 1,088. The Nasdaq Composite shed 14 points to 2,234. GE, Citi, and Bank of America are all down over 3% dragging the markets with it. JP Morgan is lower even though it was upgraded. Only a few financials are higher including Charles Schwab up 5% after beating estimates and Goldman Sachs up 3% after settling with the SEC. Things are not much better in the tech sector. Google is down 5% following earnings. Sony and Ericsson are both down over 3% following earnings. In the retail space, Mattel is down 5% even though profits doubled. Walmart is lower after an analyst cut numbers. Pepsi is modestly higher after raising their dividend. Just before 10 o'clock a second bad economic number in as many days sent the averages lower again. The Dow dropped a quick 100 points as the Michigan consumer sentiment number came in well below estimates. After the first half an hour the Dow fell 150 points. The Nasdaq declined 35 points. Through the morning the averages pushed lower with the Dow falling nearly 200 points. Nothing is bouncing. In the afternoon the averages pushed lower. The Dow fell over 230 points. The Nasdaq declined 60 points. The weak economic data has investors in no mood to buy this market. In the last hour the Dow fell 250 points, but luckily did not sell off much more. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 261 points, or 2.5%, at 10,097, led by a 9.2% drop in the shares of Bank of America. It was the worst day for the Dow since June 29. The S&P 500 ended down 31 points, or 2.9%, at 1,064, led by a 4.4% drop in financial stocks. The Nasdaq Composite sank 70 points, or 3.1%, to 2,179. For the week, the Dow lost 1%, the S&P 500 fell 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite sank 0.8%.
July 15, 2010
Beware of the ides of July. U.S. stocks began modestly lower Thursday after mixed economic data illustrated a slowing recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10 points to 10,356. The S&P 500 opened flat at 1,094, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 2 points to 2,247. The earnings are coming in better than expected. JP Morgan easily beat estimates on encouraging loan delinquency rates. JP Morgan, however, is only modestly higher. Most of the banks opened higher, then sold off. Blackrock and Legg Mason are lower after one analyst initiated hold ratings on the firms. One private equity deal today. NBTY is jumping 44% after Carlyle Group agreed to buy the firm for $3.8 billion. Not bad. In the tech space, Fairchild Semi had good earnings easily beating estimates, but the stock is lower. Intel is lower erasing all the gains from yesterday. That's not good. Symantec is lower on a downgrade. IBM and Corning are lower on analyst hold ratings. Motorola is modestly higher on an upgrade. Apple continues it's recent downward trend. In the retail space, Wolverine Worldwide is down 3% even though earnings were much better than expected. Aeropostale is lower even though it received an upgrade. At 10 o'clock a bad manufacturing number brought the sellers in full force. The Dow quickly dropped over 50 points erasing all the gains. The Nasdaq dropped into the red as well. After the first hour the Dow was down over 120 points. The Nasdaq declined 30 points. The corporate earnings are good, but with the economy slowing, investors don't believe the earnings will hold up through the rest of the year. Following the first hour, the averages spent the rest of the day fighting to pare the losses. In the last hour the averages sold off again only to rally hard into the close. The rally is due to Goldman Sachs jumping on news they will settle with the SEC. BP is also jumping on news the oil spill has been capped for now. What a difference an hour makes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down just 7 points at 10,359. The broad S&P 500 index rose a point to 1,096.48, led by consumer discretionary issues, but mostly by a bounce in energy and financial stocks. The Nasdaq Composite fell 76 cents to 2,249.
July 14, 2010
U.S. stocks started mostly lower on Wednesday after six consecutive days of gains, with investors hesitant after soft June retail sales data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 30 points to 10,332. The S&P 500 shed 4 points to 1,090, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 5 points to 2,247. The rally in the techs is thanks in part to Intel's better than expected earnings last night. Intel is trading up 5.1%. Most of the techs are trading higher. Motorola is up 3% on an upgrade. Salesforce.com is up 2% on an upgrade. Applied Materials is up a percent after raising guidance. Apple is lower once again. Oustide the tech sector things are weaker. The financials are lower. Lincoln Financial is down 4% on a downgrade. Zion Bancorp is down 2% thanks to a neutral rating at Susquehanna. Annaly Mortgage is down 4% after announcing they will raise more money and dilute their shares. MBIA is higher on an upgrade. Huntington Bancorp was upgraded, but the stock is modestly lower. The commodity space is lower except for a select number of stocks. AK Steel is jumping 5% on an upgrade. Trina Solar is up a percent on an upgrade. After the first half an hour the Dow remained in the red while the Nasdaq tried to hold on to its' gains. Through the morning the averages slowly improved while the techs and Intel lost some of their gains. In the afternoon the averages moved modestly into the green with the financials moving back to the unchanged level. At 2 o'clock, the Fed's minutes indicated they believe the economy may be slowing. That sent the Dow lower along with the financials. Even the Nasdaq gave up it's gains. For the rest of the afternoon the Dow remained in the red until the close. The Nasdaq traded around the unchanged level. Intel, following spectacular earnings, could only muster a 1.6% rally today. Pathetic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 3 points at 10,366, led by a 2.8% gain in shares of
Cisco Systems. The S&P 500 index fell 17 cents to 1,095, weighed down by a 0.9% drop in its financials sector. The Nasdaq Composite rose 7 points to 2,249.
July 13, 2010
U.S. stocks started higher on Tuesday with investor sentiment lifted by a positive debt offering out of Greece and decent results from aluminum giant Alcoa and railway operator CSX. Extending gains into a sixth consecutive session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 112 points to 10,328. The S&P 500 Index rose 12 points to 1,090. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 25 points to 2,223. CSX is up 2% while Alcoa is up 1.5%. Everything looks preety good this morning. In the tech space, Intel is up 2% ahead of earnings tonight. KLA-Tencor is jumping 3% after raising their dividend. McAfee is modestly lower on a downgrade. Apple is down 3% after investors realize that yesterdays concerns raised by Consumer Reports is a bigger problem than orginally thought. The financials look good ahead of earnings later this week. Susquehanna upgraded the sector. JP Morgan is up 2% on an upgrade ahead of earnings on Thursday. Arrow Financial is up 3% after beatingestimates. Citigroup is up 2% ahead of earnings on Friday and news the company is looking to spin off more assets. In the retail space, Dr Pepper Snapple is up 2% after announcing a $1 billion share buyback. Illinois Tool Works is higher on an upgrade. Urban Outfitters and AnnTaylor are lower on downgrades. After the first hour the averages inched higher with the Dow rising 143 points. The Nasdaq rose 25 points. Through the morning the averages pulled back a little only to rally to new highs. In the afternoon the averages pulled back once again only to rally in the last hour, and then pull back into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 146 points, or 1.4%, to close at 10,363, The S&P 500 index gained 16 points, or 1.5%, to end at 1,095, led by a 2.6% advance in financials and a 2.5% gain in the consumer discretionary sector. The Nasdaq Composite rose 43 points, or 2%, to end at 2,242.
July 12, 2010
U.S. stocks turned slightly higher shortly after the open Monday, as the technology sector rose firmly following several broker upgrades ahead of earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5 points to 10,203 led by a 1.7% gain in shares of Microsoft and a 1.4% gain in Hewlett-Packard. The S&P 500 index gained 50 cents to 1,078, led by a 0.9% advance in the tech sector. The Nasdaq Composite rose 12 points to 2,208. The upgrades in the tech sector include Sandisk, Amazon, Marvell, Yahoo, Qualcomm, Altera, EMC, Microsoift, and Research in Motion. All are higher. Sandisk is up 6%. Intel is up 1.5% ahead of earnings tomorrow. Google and Apple are higher as well. The financials are quiet ahead of earnings this week from Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan, and GE. Paychex is modestly lower as the CEO steps down. In the commodity space, BP is jumping 5% on optimism the oil spill will be capped soon. There are also rumors Exxon is looking into acquiring the troubled oil giant. Trina Solar is higher on an upgrade. The rest of the commodities are lower this morning. In the transportation space, FedEx and UPS are modestly higher on upgrades. After the first hour the averages remain in the green, but not by much. Most investors are awaiting the earnings later in the week. Through the morning the averages drifted back into the red. Apple is lower after Consumer Reports stated they could not recommend the new iphone due to poor reception. The diamond of the day goes to Playboy, up 38% after agreeing to go private. In the afternoon the averages drifted back up to the unchanged level. Most investors remain on the sidelines ahead of earnings tonight and tomorrow. In the last hour the averages were able to rally into the green, continuing the rally from last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 18 points at 10,216, with 21 of its 30 components finishing higher. The S&P 500 index inchedup 79 cents to end at 1,078, with the technology sector, up 0.7%, offsetting a 1% drop in the smaller materials sector. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2 points to 2,198.