The Week In Review
10/18-10/22/10
10/22/10U.S. stocks made a shaky start to Friday's trading session, supported by some stronger earnings reports but hemmed in by caution ahead of the weekend's G-20 meetings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2 points to 11,143. The S&P 500 gained 2 points to 1,182. The Nasdaq Composite rose 6 points to 2,466. Another great week of earnings reports, but the market needs to digest these numbers before making a move higher. Honeywell and Verizon reported strong earnings, but both stocks are modestly lower. Caterpillar is modestly lower after making an $800 million acquisition. After the first hour the Dow moved lower. The banks are in the red once again, but not Bank of America for once. America Express opened higher following earnings, but is now lower. T Rowe and KeyCorp are higher after earnings. US Bancorp was upgraded, but the stock is modestly lower. The commodities are mixed. Diamond Offshore and Schlumberger are higher following earnings and an upgrade. Freeport McMoRan is lower on an upgrade and downgrade. The fertilizer stocks are mixed. In the tech sector Baidu.com is up 5% after beating estimates. IBM continues to rebound following earnings on Monday. F5 Networks is higher on an upgrade. Amazon is down a percent after earnings last night. After the first hour the Dow remained in the red while the Nasdaq was modestly higher. Even though the averages are quiet a couple of sectors are performing well. In the restaurateur sector Chipotle Mexican Grill and Cheesecake Factory are both up over 6% thanks to strong earnings. Panera Bread and Brinker International are up over 3% in sympathy. The hotel stocks are also performing well thanks to an upgrade of Starwood Hotels. The stock is jumping 2.5%. In the afternoon the averages remained quiet with the Dow in the red and the Nasdaq remaining in the green. In the last hour nothing changed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 14 points at 11,132, dragged lower by a 3.1% drop in the shares of American Express. The S&P 500 added 2 points to 1,183 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 19 points to 2,479. A choppy week yielded gains of 0.6% for the Dow, 0.6% for the S&P 500, and 0.4% for the Nasdaq Composite.
10/21/10
U.S. stocks rose at the open on Thursday as investors cheered a spate of upbeat earnings reports and a drop in jobless claims. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 51 points to 11,160. Among blue chips, Caterpillar, McDonald's, and Travelers are higher following earnings. AT&T is modestly lower following earnings. The S&P 500 index advanced 6 points to 1,184. The Nasdaq Composite rose 16 points to 2,474. The transportation stocks remain on fire. UPS, Southwest, Jetblue, and United Continental are higher following earnings. In the tech sector Ebay is jumping 9% following earnings. Lam Research, Xerox, and Nokia are higher following earnings. The retail space is mixed. Netflix is jumping 13% following earnings. Childrens Place is down 11% after cutting their outlook. Kellogg is lower after lowering guidance. Saks is up 6% as a private equity firm builds up a stake to possibly take the retailers private. The financials are higher except for Bank of America. That stock can't get out of its' own way. Suntrust and PNC are up over 2% thanks to better than expected earnings. The commodities continue to perform well. Freeport McMoran easily beat estimates and raised their dividend for the third time this year. Not bad. The stock is up 3%. Diamond Offshore is higher following earnings. Chevron is higher after announcing a $7.5 billion project in the Gulf of Mexico. One commodity not performing well is steel. Nucor is down 3% after reporting profits. After the first hour the Dow rose 90 points to within 50 points of the yearly highs. The Nasdaq rose 22 points. Through the morning the rally started to fizzled. During the lunch hour the Nasdaq fell back to the unchanged level. By the middle of the afternoon the Dow fell into the red. However, in the last hour the Dow was about to rebound into the green thanks to Home Depot, McDonalds, and United Tech. Bank of America remains the weakest component down 3% today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 38 points at 11,146. The S&P 500 index rose 2 points to 1,180. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2 points to 2,459.
10/20/10
U.S. stocks on Wednesday opened modestly higher, with the Dow industrials reclaiming the 11,000 level on a heavy day for earnings. "Today we get to see if the punishment fit the crime yesterday," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44 points to 11,023. The S&P 500 gained 4 points to 1,170. The Nasdaq Composite added 9 points to 2,446. The earnings are flooding in. Dow components Boeing, United Technologies, and Altria are higher following better than expected earnings. In the tech sector Yahoo, Juniper, and Western Digital are higher following earnings. Altera is down even though they beat estimates. The financials remain under pressure, particularly Bank of America which opened down a percent to new lows. Blackrock, Hudson City Banc, and M&T Bank are lower following better than expected earnings. Wells Fargo is a standout up 5% following solid earnings. Goldman Sachs is higher following two upgrades. In the healthcare space Abbott Labs and Quest Diagnostic are lower following earnings. The commodity space is bouncing back today as the US dollar falls. Mosaic is up 5% on an upgrade. Freeport McMoRan is jumping 3% ahead of earnings tomorrow. After the first half an hour the Dow rose over 100 points. The Nasdaq rose 17 points. The transportation As the morning progressed the averages pushed higher. During the lunch hour the Dow rose 150 points. Only Bank of America is lower within the Dow. The Nasdaq rose 27 points. So far yesterday's punishment doesn't fit the crime. In the afternoon the averages remained strong near the highs of the day. Bank of America clawed its way back to the unchanged level. In the last hour we saw profit-taking into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 129 points at 11,107, with all but three of its 30 components advancing. Shares of Boeing rose 3.4% after the company said it swung to a profit and lifted its outlook. The S&P 500 index rose 12 points to 1,178. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 20 points to 2,457.
10/19/10
U.S. stocks fell sharply Tuesday, bringing the Dow industrials below 11,000 for the first time in a week, as spectacular earnings from the likes of Apple had already been priced in to the market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 146 points, or 1.3%, to 10.996. The S&P 500 declined 16 points, or 1.4%, to 1,168. The Nasdaq Composite declined 46 points, or 1.9%, to 2,434. The earnings are flooding in better than expected from the likes of Apple, IBM, VMware, and EMC. However, we are seriously due for a down day even though the news is good. We can't go up every day. IBM is down 3%. VMware is down 5%. Apple is down only 2%. Research in Motion is down 3% due in part to Apple bragging they sold more Iphones then Blackberries in the last quarter. That's not good for Research in Motion. In the financial sector Goldman Sachs and Bank of America beat estimates although it was less than a stellar quarter. Goldman opened higher while Bank of America opened unchanged. Bank of New York Mellon and State Street are lower after reporting earnings. Citigroup opened modestly lower after the Treasury reported they will start selling Citigroup shares once again. The commodity sector is getting hit for a second straight day. Peabody Energy and Occidental Petroleum are lower following earnings. Parker Hannifin is jumping 7% on strong earnings. Fluor is lower on a downgrade. Other companies reporting earnings today include New York Times, Illinois Tool Works, Forest Labs, J&J, Coke, Lockheed Martin, Harley Davidson, United Health Group, and Heinz. All are lower. In the retail space, Coldwater Creek is down 32% after lowering guidance. That stock does not look good. After the first hour the averages started to slowly recover with the Dow falling less than 100 points. After the first hour the averages sold back off. It just looks like a down day. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remain under pressure with the Dow falling 200 points. Yesterday in the middle of the afternoon, Bank of America instigated a rally. Today, Bank of America instigated a further sell off thanks to a lawsuit brought against them from other Wallstreet firms. Bank of America fell 4% while the Dow and Nasdaq moved back toward the lows of the day. In the last hour into the close the Dow improved even as Bank of America remained weak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 165 points to 10,978. The S&P 500 index dropped 18 points to 1,165. The Nasdaq Composite fell 43 points to 2,436.
10/18/10
U.S. stocks tallied modest Monday gains after an index of homebuilder sentiment climbed in October from the month before, the first rise in five months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38 points to 11,101. The S&P 500 Index inched up 2 points to 1,178. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 3 points to 2,472. Another Monday and another merger. St Jude is buying AGA Medical for $1.3 billion. AGA Medical is jumping 40%. Not bad. Speaking of jumping, Apple and Google keep pushing higher. IBM is at a new high ahead of earnings tonight. Altera is down 2% on a downgrade. The financials remain under pressure due to uncertainties regarding the mortgage securitization mess. Citigroup is actually higher after beating earnings estimates by a penny. AIG is higher on an upgrade. Huntsman is jumping 4% on an upgrade. In the retail space, Hasbro is up 5% on earnings. JC Penney is down 3% after initiating a poison pill to discourage a takeover. The commodities are modestly lower as the US dollar trades up. Halliburton is down 5% following earnings. After the first hour the averages improved with the Dow up over 50 points. The Nasdaq is modestly in the green. Not many down days. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages remained strong. The commodities remain one of the few sectors trading lower. In the middle of the afternoon the banks got a bid when Bank of America said they will resume housing foreclosures. Bank of America rallied 3% lifting the financials and the Dow itself. In the last hour the Dow rose as much as 90 points before pulling back into the close. The Nasdaq is strong thanks to Apple and Google. Apple reports earnings after the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 80 points at 11,143, led by a 3% gain in shares of Bank of America. The S&P 500 index rose 8 points to 1,184. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 11 points to 2,480.