The Week In Review
11/29-12/3/10
December 3, 2010U.S. stocks on Friday opened modestly lower after a disappointing November jobs report that had some questioning the data. "The market is going to react to it, but you do have to take it with a grain of salt," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald. "Number one is it is a lagging indicator, and number two, certain things don't seem right about it," including the government's finding that jobs were lost in retail, a sector that reported robust sales in recent months. After a two days of triple-digit gains, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 26 points to 11,336. The S&P 500 Index fell 2 points to 1,218. The Nasdaq Composite declined 5 points to 2,574. Very little news this morning except for the lousy unemployment data. Bonds initially rallied, but then sold off. The US dollar dropped causing commodities to bounce. Freeport McMoran is up a percent to a new 52 week high. The fertilizers and Cliffs Natural Resources are trading higher as well. Transocean is higher on an upgrade. Rio Tinto is up a percent after announcing a joint venture in China. The tech space opened lower, but then bounced back. Intel, IBM, Texas Instruments, Microsoft, and Research in Motion are all higher after opening lower. Two chip stocks, PMC Sierra and NSM are jumping 3% on upgrades. Ebay, Marvell, and Broadcom are lower on downgrades. The financials are modestly lower except for US Bancorp. Spanish bank, Banco Santander is jumping 5% on an upgrade. The retailers are modestly lower. Big Lots is down 4% after cutting their outlook. Chipotle Mexican Grill is down 4% on a downgrade. Panera Bread, Target, Walmart, Kohls, Gap and a number of other retailers are lower. Deckers Outdoor is bucking the trend, jumping 4% on an upgrade. After the first hour the averages fought back to the unchanged level, but then sold back off. It's going to be tough to rally in the short term following that lousy economic data. Through the morning the averages remained modestly in the red. The only sector showing any life is the commodities. In the afternoon the Nasdaq improved moving into the green. The Dow remains modestly in the red. The commodities remain the strongest sector. Agrium is up a percent on an upgrade. Even a couple of banks have moved into the green. Go figure. In the last hour all the major averages moved into the green. What a turnaround. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 19 points at 11,382, leaving the blue chips up 2.6% on the week. The S&P 500 climbed 3 points to 1,224 giving it a 3% jump from the week-ago close. The Nasdaq Composite gained 12 points to 2,591 for, a weekly gain of 2.2%.
December 2, 2010
U.S. stocks started mildly up on Thursday after weekly jobless claims rose more than expected, denting enthusiasm that came with higher-than-anticipated retail sales for November. After its biggest single-day jump in three months, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 26 points to 11,281. The S&P 500 added 3 points to 1,209. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 8 points to 2,557. The retail sector is mixed after reporting same store sales for November. Target, Kohls, TJX, Macys, and American Eagle are all lower. American Eagle is down 6%. Kroger and Aeropostale are both down 10% after reporting earnings. Jo-Ann Store is down 7% following earnings. Dillards, JCPenney, and Abercrombie & Fitch are all trading higher. Abercrombie is up 9%. Krispy Kreme is up 7% following earnings. Tractor Supply is modestly higher following earnings. The techs and financials are modestly higher. Blackrock is modestly higher on an upgrade. Toll Brothers is down 2% even though they easily beat earnings estimates. After the first half an hour the averages pushed higher thanks to better than expected housing sales. The Dow rose 70 points above 10300. The Nasdaq jumped 15 points. A good start to December. Through the morning the averages kept improving with the Dow rising 100 points. Then Nasdaq rose 21 points. Most sectors look good. Bond funds are actually under pressure as interest rates start to inch up. The recent highflyers likes Decker Outdoors, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Netflix, and Priceline are under selling pressure. Go figure. In the afternoon the averages remained strong trading near the highs of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 106 points to end at 11,362, led by a 5.5% jump in shares of Home Depot. The S&P 500 index rose 15 points, or 1.3%, to 1,221 lifted by a 2.6% gain in its financial sector. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 29 points, or 1.2%, to 2,579.
December 1, 2010
U.S. stocks started sharply higher to start December after economic data from around the globe helped equities rebound from a lousy November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 182 points to 11,188. The S&P 500 Index added 18 points to 1,198. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 45 points to 2,544. So far so good as almost all sectors are trading higher. Commodities are acting well. Rio Tinto is up 3% after making a big investment in iron ore. Cliffs Natural Resources is up 2%. Freeport McMoran is up 2%. Hess is up 3% on an upgrade. The CME Group is up 3% on an upgrade. US Steel is higher even though it was downgraded. The high flyers are performing well. Travelzoo.com is up 3% to a new high on an upgrade. Decker Outdoors is up 3% to another new high. Netflix opened higher at a new high, but then pulled back. The techs look good. Corning, Google, and Texas Instruments are all higher on upgrades. Research in Motion continues to perform well jumping to new recent highs. Motorola is up 4% after setting a date of January 4th to split up their business. Sycamore Networks is down 14% after lousy earnings. Even the financials are modestly higher. American Express, Discover, Capital One, Deutsche Bank, and American Express were all upgraded. The Spanish exchange and the Spanish banks rallied sharply this morning. The retailers are quiet even though Citigroup upped their price targets on a plethora of clothing and shoe retailers. After the first hour the Dow remained strong up 200 points. The Nasdaq rose 48 points. So far so good. During the lunch hour the averages actually improved on rumors of US aid for Europe. The Euro jumped causing the US dollar to decline. The commodities and the averages took off. The Dow jumped 250 points while the Nasdaq rose 55 points. A nice start to December. GM and Ford are performing well thanks to strong auto sales last month. In the afternoon the rumors were denied that the US would help aid the European financial crisis, but yet the averages did not sell off. In the last hour the averages held their gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 249 points, or 2.3%, to end at 11,255, marking its best day since Sept. 1st. The S&P 500 index rose 25 points, or 2.2%, to 1,206 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 51 points, or 2.1%, to 2,549.
November 30, 2010
U.S. stocks opened steeply lower on Tuesday, taking the Dow Jones Industrial Average back under 11,000, as Europe's fiscal issues weighed on sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 96 points to 10,955. The S&P 500 Index declined 11 points to 1,175. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 33 points to 2,491. For the third straight day the averages have succumbed to heavy selling in the first hour. Very few stocks are trading higher. The recent highfliers continue to perform well. Netflix, Decker Outdoors, and Chipotle Mexican Grill are all higher. Decker Outdoors received positive comments from CNBC's Jim Cramer and also the company is teaming up with UGGs for a new male line of boots. Good luck with that. Research in Motion is one of the few techs trading higher thanks in part to an upgrade. Google is getting walloped due to a new European probe and a US consumer watchdog group reiterating their recommendation for the US Justice Department to similarly investigate the web giant. Ebay is down 4% on a downgrade. Zoltek is down 9% after missing estimates. Seagate is down 4% after discontinuing their attempts to go private. The commodities are lower even as gold and silver spike higher. The oil drillers are all down 2% to 3% this morning. The financials are modestly lower. Citigroup is unchanged on an upgrade. The retailers are lower. Lowes reaffirmed earnings estimates, but it doesn't seem to be helping. Barnes and Noble is down 9% after missing estimates. Within the first hour the averages slowly started to improve as a couple of Dow components moved into the green. After the first hour the Dow was only down 30 points. The Nasdaq declined 16 points. One of these days we'll actually rally into the green. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages continued to improve with the Dow actually moving into the green momentarily. One sector not bouncing is the financials. Bank America looks awful dropping to a new 52 week low. Another stock that looks awful is Google down 4% on news of a European investigation and rumors they are looking to buy another Internet company. In the last hour the averages tried to get back to the unchanged level once again, but similar to yesterday, came up short. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 46 points at 11,006. For November, the Dow still finished off 1%. The S&P 500 index fell 7 points to 1,180, leaving it off 0.2% for the month. The Nasdaq Composite fell 26 points to end at 2,498. The tech-heavy index declined 0.4% for the month of November.
November 29, 2010
U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday after a bailout for Ireland did little to ease worry about Europe's financial troubles. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 87 points to 11,004. The S&P 500 Index declined 10 points to 1,179. The Nasdaq Composite shed 17 points to 2,517. Another down open as the correction continues. The first Monday with no major acquisitions. I guess everyone was shopping. Speaking of that, Amazon is jumping 2% on strong weekend sales. Today should be another good day for Amazon as it is called Cyber Monday. Netflix and Ebay are also trading higher. Ebay was actually downgraded. Apple is higher as I'm sure they sold a zillion products over the weekend. All the big house discount retailers are trading modestly lower. American Eagle is one of the few brick and mortar retailers trading higher on an upgrade. The financials opened unchanged to modestly lower. Wells Fargo is modestly higher on an upgrade. Ameriprise was highlighted in Barrons, but is trading lower on a downgraded. The techs for the most part are lower. Apple and Akamai are higher on positive analyst comments, but that's about it. The weakness overseas is causing the US dollar to rally and commodity stocks to drop. After the first half an hour the averages pushed lower with the Dow dropping 140 points. The Nasdaq declined 30 points. It's not looking good. After the first hour the averages bounced off the lows with the banks showing a little life. Through the morning most of the big banks moved into the green. A couple of commodities turned around like Freeport McMoran and Potash. The transportation average is in the red, but FedEx's stock is acting great. A feature in Barrons and an upgraded this morning with a $111 price target has this freight service stock trading up 3%. In the afternoon the averages continued to improve as the US dollar pulled back. Heading into the last hour the averages had produced a nice turnaround trimming over half the losses. The financials are leading the rally for once. More and more techs, commodities, and retailers are moving into the green. In the last hour the averages fought and clawed trying to get back the unchanged level, but came up a little short. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 39 points at 11,052 well off an earlier low of 10,929. The S&P 500 index declined point to 1,187. The Nasdaq Composite fell 9 points to 2,525.