The Week In Review
8/9-8/13/10
August 13, 2010Triskaidekaphobia or the fear of the number 13 particularly on a Friday. We'll see if its good or bad luck for the major averages today. At least on the open, U.S. stocks opened slightly higher following a week of heavy losses, as the latest batch of reports on retail sales and consumer prices did little to offset rising concern about slowing growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3 points to 10,323, lifted by 1% gain in shares of Caterpillar and Hewlett-Packard. The S&P 500 index inched up 9 cents to 1,084, lifted by the energy and financial sectors, while consumer discretionary weighed on the broad average. The Nasdaq Composite declined 8 point to 2,181. A number of earnings out last night and this morning. It's the haves and have nots. Nvidia and Autodesk are both up over 4% following earnings. KLA-Tencor is higher on an upgrade. IBM is making a small acquisition for them for $480 million. Dynegy is jumping 58% after agreeing to be bought out for $4.5 a share. Unfortunately the stock is down 85% in the last two years. In the retail space, Dillards, JCPenney, and Nordstrom are all down following earnings. DeVry is lower following earnings. Eli Lilly is down after lowering guidance. At 10 o'clock, better than expected consumer sentiment did little to lift the averages. In fact they fell into the red. Through the morning the averages remained stuck in the red. It's a quiet morning. Typical Friday in August. In the afternoon the Dow inched into the green only to sell off in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 16 points at 10,303, weighed down by more than 1% drops in shares of Home Depot, Intel, and American Express. For the week, the Dow industrials slumped 3.3%, and is now down 1.2% year to date. The S&P 500 index lost 4 points to 1,079, weighed by the consumer discretionary sector. For the week, the S&P 500 declined 3.8%, leading the broad-market gauge to a loss of 3.2% for the year. The Nasdaq Composite fell 16 points to 2,173. The tech-heavy index fell the hardest of the three major averages this week, losing 5%. For the year so far, the Nasdaq is down 4.2%.
August 12, 2010
U.S. stocks fell sharply at the open on Thursday, though they recovered a bit of ground, following broad losses overseas as rising concern over growth intensified after an unexpected rise in jobless claims. After slumping more than 100 points in the first minutes of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 78 points to 10,300, with 24 of its 30 components opening lower. Leading the way lower among blue chips, shares of Cisco Systems tumbled 10% a day after the firm issued a sales forecast below Wall Street's expectations. The S&P 500 index declined 10 points to 1,078. The Nasdaq Composite lost 31 points to 2,177. Cisco's earnings actually were pretty good. Sales and earnings grew over 18% and the stock trades for 12 times earnings. That's what is so frustrating about this market. At least Wells Fargo upgraded a number of techs including Apple, Google, IBM, and Net Appliance. Only Apple is higher. Net Appliance is down 7%. Qualcomm is down 2% on a downgrade. Netsuite is lower even though it was upgraded. Ebay is up 2% on an upgrade. The financials are lower once again. Blackstone is one of the few financials higher on an upgrade from Goldman Sachs. After the open the averages continued to slowly improve. The commodities turned around. The fertilizers and Freeport look good. A number of retailers look good. Elizabeth Arden is a diamond for the day, trading up 12%. Tim Hortons is up 6% after beating earnings estimates. Briggs & Stratton and Brinker are also higher following earnings. Estee Lauder, Sara Lee, and Kohl's are lower following earnings. BK Homes is down 2% after their treasurer resigned. That's not good. After the first hour the averages had cut their losses in half. Through the morning the averages remained in the red, but off the lows. In the afternoon the averages recovered, sold off, and then recovered once again. In the last hour, the same thing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 59 points at 10,319. The S&P 500 index dropped 5 points to end at 1,083, led lower by a 1.7% drop in the technology sector. The Nasdaq Composite fell 18 points to 2,190.27.
August 11, 2010
U.S. stocks on Wednesday started sharply lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 200 points, amid escalating worries about the global economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 202 points to 10,441. The S&P 500 Index shed 23 points to 1,097. The Nasdaq Composite declined 57 points to 2,219. What a difference a day makes. Weakness out of China and Europe isn't helping things. Everyone is a pessimist today. Disney traded up yesterday thanks to better than expected earnings, but this morning it's trading lower. Cree is down 12% even though they beat earnings estimates last night. Computer Science and Avnet are also trading lower following earnings. Macys seems to be the lone bright spot, trading up 4% after beating estimates. Last night Aflac increased its' dividend and resumed their buyback, all really good news, but of course the stock is lower. The analyst community is not in a good mood this morning either. The stocks receiving downgrades this morning include Intel, Home Depot, Lowes, Viacom, Hartford, Gap, and Time Warner. All are lower. Shocker. Family Dollar received an upgrade, yet the stock is lower. After the first hour the averages remain right where they started. In the tech sector, Research in Motion is up a few pennies. Within the financials, Genworth is up a few pennies and that's about it for the good news. Through the morning the averages pushed lower. The Dow fell over 250 points. The Nasdaq remained near the lows of the day. In the afternoon the averages did not bounce remaining near the lows of the day. In the last hour, the selling continued. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 265 points, or 2.5%, at 10,378. The S&P 500 declined 31 points, or 2.8%, to close at 1,089. The Nasdaq Composite shed 68 points, or 3%, to 2,208. Here we go again.
August 10, 2010
U.S. stocks opened lower after data illustrated slowing growth in China and the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 84 points to 10,614. The S&P 500 Index declined 9 points to 1,118. The Nasdaq Composite fell 25 points to 2,280. Nothing really looks good here as the averages moved lower after the open. In the tech sector Intel is down 3% on a downgrade. Salesforce.com is down 2% on a downgrade. Cisco is lower ahead of earnings tomorrow even though it was upgraded. Texas Instruments is down 2% on an upgrade. Like I said, it's a tough morning. Akamai is one of the few techs higher on an upgrade. Some investors will stay on the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy statement this afternoon. The financials are weak as well. American Express is lower on an upgrade. Bond insurer, MBIA is one of the few financials higher after beating earnings estimates by over $6. The analysts missed this one by a wide margin. In the retail space Scotts Miracle Gro is up 2% after beating earnings estimates. Fossil is jumping 7% after beating earnings estimates. Whole Foods is lower on an upgrade. Amerigon is down 2% on an upgrade. Best Buy is down 4% on a downgrade. At 10 o'clock, better than expected inventory data did little to help the averages. The Dow remained down triple digits while the Nasdaq declined 36 points. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages improved a little, but not much. Everyone is awaiting the Fed announcement, hoping for some good news. At 2:15, the Fed gave the markets some encouragement with acknowledgement of an economic slowdown and steps to curb the downturn with more purchases of Treasuries to help the economy out. That good news sent the averages all the way back to the unchanged level, before selling off once again, but only to the tune of 24 points. In the last hour the averages remained in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 54 points to end at 10,644, well off a session low of 10,551. Out of the Dow's 30 components, 21 fell, including a 4% drop in shares of Intel. The S&P 500 index dropped 6 points to 1,121, weighed down most by the technology sector, which fell 1.2%. The Nasdaq Composite lost 28 point to close at 2,277.
August 9, 2010
Stocks open modestly higher on Monday after McDonald's better than expected July sales numbers overcome the weakness in HP. Gold and bond yields are higher as investors await the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting tomorrow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 20 points to 10,673. The S&P
500 rose 2.6 points to 1,124. The Nasdaq Composite added 8 points to 2,296. HP is the weakest of the blue chips down 6% after their CEO stepped down for fudging his expense account after paying off his mistress. I'm sure he didn't have a great weekend. On a brighter note, rival IBM is up in sympathy. McDonalds is up 2% thanks to those stronger sales. P&G and Deere are modestly higher on
upgrades. Most sectors opened higher, but the rally did not last. The financials turned south. TD Ameritrade is one of the few financials higher after announcing a share buyback. The techs not look great. Google is higher, but Apple is struggling even though it received an upgrade. The commodities opened higher, but sold off. Energy Transfer Partners is down 2% following lower profits. Tyson
Foods and Dish Networks are also lower following earnings. After the first half an hour the averages were unchanged. After the first hour the averages perked up led by the techs. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remain in the green, but not by much. The techs are in the lead. Research in Motion is up 4% on optimism the company can figure out a plan to get back in service in countries like Saudi Arabia. Entering the last hour the Dow was up 60 points. The Nasdaq rose 17 points. In the last hour the averages held their gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 45 points at 10,698.75, with 25 of its 30 component stocks rising, led by a 2.9% gain in shares of Cisco Systems. Shares of Hewlett-Packard slumped 8% on the day. The S&P 500 index gained 6.15 points to 1,127, led by the consumer discretionary sector. The Nasdaq Composite rose 17 points to 2,305.