The Week In Review
11/15-11/17/10
November 17, 2010U.S. stocks opened tentatively higher with consumer companies fronting the rise after discount retailer Target projected robust holiday sales. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added half a point to 11,024. The S&P 500 Index rose a point to 1,179. The Nasdaq Composite added 7 points to 2,477. For a second day in a row, the retailers look great. Target is jumping 4% following earnings. Not to be out done, Chico's is jumping 8% following earnings. BJs Wholesale is higher by 2% following earnings. The restaurant stocks continue to perform well. Panera Bread is jumping 4% on an upgrade. Cheesecake Factory and Chipotle Mexican Grill keep moving higher. Gamestop is higher on an upgrade. Christopher & Bank is down 9% after issuing a quarterly loss. Dicks was upgraded, but the stock is modestly lower. Elsewhere, the commodities and techs are rebounding after getting hit the last week. Baidu.com is up 4% on an upgrade. Intel, AMD, and Corning are modestly lower on downgrades and cautious comments. The financials are lower once again. Blackrock is one of the few financials higher thanks to an upgrade. After the first hour the Dow remained near the unchanged level. The Nasdaq is modestly in the green. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages went nowhere. Another merger to speak of. Allegheny Tech is buying Landish Corp for $778 million. Landish is jumping 56%. Not bad. Ahead of the last hour tech firm NetApp dropped 9% as earnings were released prematurely. The weakness in NetApp spread to a number of tech stocks. In the last hour the Dow remained in the red while the Nasdaq held up in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 15 points at 11,007. The S&P 500 Index rose 25 cents to 1,178. The Nasdaq Composite gained 6 points to 2,476.
November 16, 2010
The correction is not over. U.S. stocks started lower on Tuesday after reports China would announce measures including price controls on food to slow the country's rapid economic growth. This coupled will new financials concerns out of Ireland and Greece gave investors another reason to take profits after a great run. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 99 points to 1,102, down for a fourth consecutive session. The S&P 500 Index declined 10 points to 1,187. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 20 points to 2,493. The financials are lower following the news out of Europe and insider filing showing a number of hedge fund managers reduced their stakes in the big banks. Warren Buffett was one of the few top investors to add to his position in Wells Fargo and also creating a new position in Bank of New York Mellon. Both stocks are, however, lower this morning. Very few stocks are trading higher, but there are a couple bright spots. In the retail space Walmart, Home Depot, Dicks Sporting Goods, and Urban Outfitters look great following strong earnings. I guess the consumer isn't dead. Mattel is jumping 4% after an insider filing indicated that Carl Icahn bought a big stake. TJX, Saks, and Abercrombie & Fitch are modestly lower following earnings. Starbucks doubled their share buyback plan, however, the stock is under selling pressure. Through the morning the selling accelerated with a rise in the US dollar. The Dow fell 200 points before stabilizing. Only Home Depot and Walmart are higher in the blue chip index. The Nasdaq fell 40 points before stabilizing. One of the best sectors in the last two months, Commodities are getting hit due to the rise in the dollar. In the afternoon the averages remained weak not far from the lows of the day. Nothing changed in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 178 points, or 1.6%, at 11,023. The S&P 500 Index declined 19 points, or 1.6%, to 1,178. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 43 points, or 1.8%, to 2,469.
November 15, 2010
U.S. stocks are modestly bouncing higher this morning following an overdue pull back in the major averages last week.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35 points to 11,228. The S&P 500 Index climbed 4 points to 1,203 while the Nasdaq Composite added 11 points to 2,530. The retail sector looks good this morning thanks in part to a government report indicating October sales grew fast than expected. Lowes is trading higher thanks to better than expected earnings. Auto retailer, Monro Muffler looks good this morning after raising their quarterly dividend by 33% and announcing a two-for-one stock split. Another Monday and more acquisitions to talk about. Mining equipment Caterpillar said it will buy Bucyrus International for $8.6 billion, or $92 a share. Bucyrus shares surged 29% to $89 a share. Rivals Joy Global, Manitowoc, Terex are all trading higher as well. In the tech space, storage giant EMC is buying Isilon Systems for $33.85 a share in cash. Isilon's stock is jumping 29%. In the first hour and through the morning the averages held on to their modest gains, but it isn't much of a bounce after last week's drumming. By the middle of the afternoon the rally started to crumble following a late-session spike in Treasury yields. In the last hour most of the rally had fizzled. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 9 points at 11,201. The S&P 500 fell a point to 1,197. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4 points to 2,513.