The Week In Review
9/20-9/24/10
September 24, 2010U.S. stocks opened strongly higher with the Dow industrials up more than 100 points even though the August manufacturing data was much weaker than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 142 points to 10,805. The S&P 500 rose 15 points to 1,140. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 33 points to 2,360. Up, up, and away today. Everything looks good. Nike is jumping 4% after better than expected earnings. KB Homes is higher following earnings. AMD lowered guidance last night, but its' not hurting the stock which is up 5%. For once the chips look good. Marvell is higher by 2% on an upgrade. Apple and Google keep pushing to new recent highs. IBM is closing in on its' 52 week high. The financials are rebounding after getting hit yesterday. E-Trade is jumping 4% on takeover rumors. GE is up 2% after signing a locomotive deal in Brazil. A good country to do business in. Motorola is higher after announcing a reverse split. Berkshire Hathaway is up 4% on no news. The commodities continue to do well. Freeport McMoRan is up 3% to new recent highs as gold hits $1300 an ounce. After the first hour the averages remain strong with the Dow up 180 points and the Nasdaq rising 37 points. September is looking pretty darn good. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remain strong with no pull back. The financials are performing well, the commodities look great, and Google and Apple keep moving straight up. In the last hour the averages remained strong closing near the highs of the day. The Dow industrials finished up 197 points, or 1.9%, to end at 10,860, its best one day performance since Sept. 1, closing up 2.4% for the week. The S&P added 23 points, or 2.1%, to end at 1,148, up 2.1% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 54 points, or 2.3%, to 2,381, up 2.8% from the week-ago close.
September 23, 2010
U.S. stocks opened solidly lower on Thursday after initial claims for jobless benefits rose last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 82 points to 10,657. The S&P 500 fell 9 points to 1,124. The Nasdaq Composite declined 16 points to 2,318. Frustrating market. The averages want to go higher, but the lousy employment and economic data are keeping us range bound. A couple of stocks continue to perform well. Apple, of course, keeps moving higher making new highs. Software firm, Redhat is jumping 11% following better than expected earnings. Netflix is jumping 4% after rival Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy. Bed Bath & Beyond is up 4% following earnings. The analyst community remains bullish. Apple, Qualcomm, Nvidia, Akamai Tech, Mylan Labs, and DuPont are all higher on upgrades. Tiffanys is higher even though it was downgraded. Scholastic is jumping 5% even though they missed earnings estimates. Scholastic announced a Dutch share buyback plan. After the first hour the averages slowly recovered with the Nasdaq moving into the green. Through the morning all three major averages moved into the green. Resilient market. McDonalds and Lockheed Martin are higher after raising their dividend. The dividend stocks are hot right now. In the afternoon the Dow fell back into the red. Altria is lower on a downgrade. Disney is the weakest Dow component down 2% today. In the last hour the selling accelerated taking us back to where we started the day. Can't go up every day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 76 points at 10,662, with 26 of its 30 components ending lower, led by a 2.6% decline in shares of Disney. The S&P 500 index lost 9 points to 1,124, weighed down by a 2% drop in financials. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 7 points to 2,327.
September 22, 2010
U.S. stocks opened slightly higher Wednesday, with gains tilted towards gold and commodities as the dollar slumped in the wake of the Federal Reserve signaling it stood ready to provide more stimulus to stave off deflation and boost the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21 points to 10,783, with 20 of its 30 components opening higher. Blue-chips were lifted by a 1.5% gain in shares of aluminum giant Alcoa. The S&P 500 index rose a point to 1,140, led by a 0.8% increase in the energy sector. The Nasdaq Composite declined 2 points to 2,347. The commodities are acting well this morning. Freeport McMoRan is jumping 2% to new recent highs. Cliffs Natural Resources is higher by 2.5% following a bullish upgrade. Hess and Diamond Offshore are higher on upgrades. The fertilizer stocks continue to perform well. The tech sector is mixed this morning. Adobe is the dog of the day down 20% following weak sales guidance. PMC Sierra is down 9% after lowering guidance. Ebay raised guidance last night, but the stock is lower by 3%. Qlogic and Nvidia are lower on upgrades. Microsoft raised their dividend by 23% this morning, but investors are unimpressed. The stock is lower by 3%. Nokia was downgraded, but the stock is unchanged. Progressive Software is jumping 6% after beating earnings estimates. Apple is making new 52 week highs. Research in Motion is higher on rumors they will introduce a new tablet. An analyst made comments that Research in Motion should provide Android software on their phones. That would be good for Google which is making new recent highs this morning. After the first hour the averages moved lower. The financials are in the red. Jefferies is down 5% after missing earnings estimates this morning. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs had their earnings estimates slashed this morning over at Deutsche Bank. American Express is lower even though they received an upgrade this morning. M&T Bank opened higher, but then sold off on more rumors of a takeover. Through the morning the averages drifted lower with the Dow falling 40 points and the Nasdaq declining 22 points. A few stocks continue to perform well including Apple, Google, and a number of commodities. In the afternoon, more of the same, with only a few stocks trading in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 21 point at 10,739. The S&P 500 index slid 5 points to 1,134, held down by the financial sector, dropping 1.6%. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 14 points to 2,334.
September 21, 2010
U.S. stocks tallied mild declines at Tuesday's start, with equities retreating after an extended climb ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting later in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5 points to 10,748. The S&P 500 declined a point to 1,141. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5 points to 2,350. A couple of earnings reports this morning. Conagra and Autozone are lower following earnings. Carnival is higher after beating estimates. The tech sector has received a number of upgrades and downgrades. Qualcomm, Apple, and Atmel are higher on upgrades. Google is higher once again after a spectacular Monday. Even Research in Motion is higher following a neutral rating at Canaccord. Micron and Sandisk are lower on downgrades. Nokia is lower by 4% on rumors of a delay for their new smartphone. The financials are performing well this morning even though the averages are quiet. Bank of America is up a percent on positive analyst comments at RBC. Oppenheimer is making positive comments on all the major banks. Goldman Sachs is trading up 1.3%. After the first hour the averages remain stuck at the unchanged level. The financials look good. The techs are performing well. One sector trading lower is the commodities. US Steel and Nucor are lower after being downgraded for a second straight day. Through the morning the averages drifted into the red with a number of banks and techs giving up some of their gains. In the afternoon the averages remained quiet ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting. In their announcement, the Fed left rates unchanged maintaining that while the economy continues to recover, its' doing so at a slower pace. The major averages initially sold off, but then rebounded with the Dow moving into the green. Heading into the last hour the Dow rose 70 points above 10800 before pulling back into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average still eked out a fractional gain finishing up 7 points at 10,761. The S&P 500 index ended down 2 point to 1,137, weighed down by a 1% drop in the financials. The Nasdaq Composite fell 6 point to end at 2,349.
September 20, 2010
U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, taking gains into a fourth week, with investors cheered by ongoing activity on the mergers-and-acquisitions front. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20 points to 10,628. The S&P 500 climbed 2 points to 1,128. The Nasdaq Composite gained 4 points to 2,319. A number of mergers this morning. IBM is buying Netezza for $1.7 billion. Netezza is up 12% while IBM is higher as well. McMoRan is buying the gulf assets from Plain Exploration. McMoRan is jumping 2%. Freeport McMoRan is higher as well on an upgrade from Goldman Sachs. Another commodity player, Potash is higher on rumors of a takeover. A couple of commodity plays are lower, US Steel and Nucor, on downgrades. On the earnings front, Discover and Lennar are higher after beating estimates. Cooper Industries is up 2% after raising third quarter guidance. The analyst community is in a good mood this morning, upgrading a number of stocks. In the retail space Carmax, Aeropostale, Priceline, Big 5 Sports, and Best Buy are all higher on upgrades. In the tech sector Apple, Google, and Research in Motion all received positive analyst comments. Only Research in Motion is lower by 2.5%. That stock cannot get out of its' own way. AT&T and Verizon are higher on positive analyst comments. The financials are modestly higher except for Goldman Sachs. Aflac is higher on an upgrade. After the first half an hour the Dow rose 40 points while the Nasdaq rose 7 points. After the first hour the averages shot up with the Dow jumping 100 points while the Nasdaq rose 25 points. Google is up 3.5%. Apple is up 2.5% to new highs. The recession today is officially over. Now we worry about the double dip. Through the morning the averages remained near the highs of the day. In the afternoon the Presidents' town hall did nothing to discourage the markets. Entering the last hour the Dow rose 140 points. The Nasdaq rose 35 points. One big cap tech stock trading lower, down 3%, is Research in Motion. Frustrating stock. In the last hour the averages held firm. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 145 or 1.4%, to 10,753, lifted by 29 of its 30 components. Blue-chip gains were led by American Express, up 4.2%. The S&P 500 index rose 17 points, or 1.5%, to 1,142, led by a 2% gain in financials. The Nasdaq Composite gained 40 points, or 1.7%, to 2,355.