The Week In Review
1/10-1/14/11
January 14, 2010U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday after China hiked its bank-reserve requirements and U.S. economic data showed consumer prices climbing in December due in part to the rising cost of gasoline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 14 points to 11,717. The Standard & Poor's Index opened flat at 1,283. The Nasdaq Composite fell a point to 2,733. The earnings season has started. Last night Intel easily beat expectations. The stock traded up last night, but is under selling pressure this morning. The rest of the chips are lower as well. ARM Holdings is down 5% this morning. The semiconductor equipment makers are trading higher after Intel raised their cap-ex spending budget for the year. Apple is lower, but Google looks good. In the financial space, JP Morgan easily beat expectations this morning. The stock initially traded lower, but rallied over a percent shortly after the open lifting the whole sector. Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Metlife, and PNC Bank are all up over a percent. Webster Financial is up 6% after easily beating estimates. M&T Bank is higher after reporting earnings this morning. The commodities are mixed this morning. The fertilizers and a select number of oils look good. Alcoa is higher on an upgrade, but most commodity stocks are lower. In the retail space the dog of the day goes to Coinstar down 24% after lowering fourth quarter guidance. Hasbro is down 2.5% after lowering fourth quarter sales as well. After the first hour the averages battled back to the unchanged level led by the financials. Through the morning the averages moved into the green. The financials still look good. In the tech space Apple has perked up trading at a new 52 week high. IBM is also trading at a new high. In the afternoon the averages kept creeping higher as more and more stocks moved into the green. The major averages made new highs for the year before pulling back a little in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 55 points at 11,787, led by a 3.3% gain in shares of Bank of America and a 2.6% advance in American Express. JP Morgan Chase rose 1% after its quarterly results topped expectations. For the week, the Dow industrials gained 1%. The S&P 500 index rose 9 points to 1,293 led by a 1.7% gain in the financial sector. For the week, the broad index rose 1.7%. The Nasdaq Composite gained 20 points to 2,755. For the week, it gained 1.9%.
January 13, 2010
U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday, as a jump in weekly jobless claims and stronger than expected inflation data fueled concerns about the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10 points to 11,744, weighed down by a 4% drop in Merck's shares after they discontinued research on an experimental blood thinner drug. The S&P 500 index dropped a point to 1,284. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4 points to 2,732. After hitting new highs yesterday the averages are succumbing to a little profit-taking which is healthy. In the tech space Intel is modestly lower ahead of earnings tonight. Micron looks good up 4% on two upgrades this morning. Apple, Amazon, Xilinx, Cisco Systems, EMC, and Juniper Networks are all modestly higher on upgrades. Research in Motion has performed nicely of late up another 2.5% this morning. The financials are quiet this morning. E-Trade is lower on a downgrade. US Bancorp and Ameriprise are higher on upgrades. The commodities are mostly lower. Marathon Oil is a big winner up 9% after deciding to spin off their refining business. ConocoPhillips is lower on a downgrade. After the first hour the Dow sunk a little lower due to Merck dropping 6%. Dow component Alcoa is down 2%. The Nasdaq remained down 4 points. Through the morning the averages slowly improved with the Nasdaq moving into the green. The financials are slowly improving. Ford Motor is at a new 52 week high thanks in part to Jim Cramer hosting his show at their headquarters last night. In the afternoon the averages sold off with a modest recovery in the last hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 23 points to end at 11,731. The S&P 500 index dropped 2 points to 1,283, with materials, healthcare, and financials falling the most among its 10 sectors. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2 points closing at 2,735.
January 12, 2010
U.S. stocks open near the highs for the year as investors expressed relief after Portugal's sound bond sale and reacted to hopeful signals from the banking sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 57 points to 11,729. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 7 points to 1,281. The Nasdaq Composite gained 9 points to 2,726. Plenty of good news this morning. St Jude Medical and Watson Pharma are higher following earnings. ITT is jumping 18% after announcing they will split the firm into three companies. Noble Corp is jumping 4% after being selected to join the S&P 500. Cliffs Natural Resources announced a $5 billion acquisition of a Canadian company. The stock initially sold off last night, but is jumping 4% this morning. The rest of the commodities are performing well. The fertilizers are higher after Cargill reported earnings. Freeport McMoran opened at a new high this morning. Arch Coal is one of the few commodities lower after lowering guidance. The financials are higher thanks to upgrades from Wells Fargo. JP Morgan is up ahead of earnings as their CEO expects to raise their dividend to 75 cents to a dollar in the second quarter. Genworth was downgraded, but the stock is higher. GE is modestly lower on a downgrade. In the tech space IBM, Intel, and Symantec were all upgraded. Intel reports earnings tomorrow. Analog Devices and Sandisk are lower on downgrades. After the first hour the averages remain strong with the Dow rising 80 points breaking out to new highs for the year. The Nasdaq is up 12 points to new highs for the year as well. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages slowly improved with the Dow rising over 100 points. Then Nasdaq declined 15 points. Plenty of companies are making new 52 week highs. In the last hour the averages pulled back from the highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 83 points at 11,755, with JP Morgan leading the advance, up 2.6%, followed by Bank of America up 2%. The S&P 500 index rose 11 points to 1,285 led by a 1.7% advance in financials. The Nasdaq Composite rose 20 points to 2,737.
January 11, 2010
U.S. stocks rebounded Tuesday on earnings-related optimism and after Japan joined China in saying it plans to buy bonds issued by Europe's financial-aid fund. Snapping a three-session losing streak, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 59 points to 11,697. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 6 points to 1,276. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 13 points to 2,721. Everything looks great to start the day. The financials are all higher, led by a 3% rally in Franklin Resources. Genworth is up 3% on rumors private equity is interested in the firm. Suntrust is modestly higher on takeover rumors. Home builder, Lennar is up 3% following better than expected earnings. The commodities also look good. The fertilizers, Freeport McMoran, and Cliffs Natural Resources all look good. Alcoa is modestly lower even though it received an upgrade and beat earnings expectations last night. The stock is up 60% from the September lows. The techs are a little mixed. Google is higher after having their estimates raised. The chips look good, but the big news in tech land is the pending announcement of Verizon to carry the Apple iphone. After the first hour the averages remained strong just off the highs of the day. The retailers are struggling this morning. Talbots is the dog of the day down 17% after reporting a fourth quarter loss. Supervalu is down 11% after reporting a loss and cutting guidance. On the plus side, Sears is jumping 6% following strong earnings. CVS Caremark is modestly higher after raising their dividend. At 11 o'clock Verizon officially announced they will offer the iphone. Surprisingly, Apple and Verizon are lower. AT&T is also lower as they lose their exclusivity with Apple. Ironically, Research in Motion is trading up 2% even though many Verizon clients will trade in their blackberrys for an iphone. In the afternoon the averages remained strong trading right where they started the day. The transportation stocks all received upgrades this morning, but most are lower. The commodity and financials remain the strongest sectors. In the middle of the afternoon the averages sold off with the Dow briefly falling into the red. Verizon and AT&T are two of the weakest Dow components. In the last hour the averages recovered. Resilient market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 34 points to end at 11,671, lifted by a 2% gain in shares of Bank of America and a 1.7% advance in shares of Intel Corp. The S&P 500 index rose 4 points to 1,274. lifted by its energy and materials sectors. The Nasdaq Composite rose 9 points to 2,716.
January 10, 2010
U.S. stock indexes on Monday fell as Europe's debt troubles came back into play, with worry focused on Portugal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58 points to 11,616. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 6 points to 1,264. The Nasdaq Composite shed 16 points to 2,686. The first good down day to start the new year. The commodities are taking it on the chin so far this morning. The fertilizers are lower as Agrium was downgraded. That stock is down 2.6%. Freeport McMoran is lower even though they received an upgrade with a $140 price target. BP is lower even though it was downgraded. Duke Energy is buying Progressive Energy for $13.7 billion. Both stocks are modestly lower. LDK Solar is jumping 16% after lifting sales and gross margins. The techs are modest lower except for Apple. Apple is higher on news Verizon will finally announce their iphone tomorrow. Research in Motion is lower as they will inevitably lose clients as a result of this. AMD is up 2% on an upgrade. After the first hour the averages remained weak with the Dow down 70 points. The Nasdaq declined 10 points. The financials opened lower, but rebounded to the unchanged level. Bank of America is up a percent. GE is up a percent on an upgrade. In the retail space Coach and Tiffanys are higher on upgrades. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages slowly improved. The Nasdaq rallied into the green thanks in part to a 2% rally in Apple. The Dow remained in the red, but improved dramatically after falling as much as 100 points this morning. The financials and commodities look much better. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 37 points at 11,637, with Alcoa shares bucking the trend, up 0.4%. The S&P 500 index dropped 2 points to 1,269, weighed by telecom and utilities. The Nasdaq Composite rose 4 points to 2,707.