Day Traders Diary

3/19/09

U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, extending the prior day's strong gains, with investors still basking in the Federal Reserve's latest move to help the troubled economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43 points to 7,529. Alcoa is jumping 10% on an upgrade. The S&P 500 Index climbed 7 points to 801 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 12 points to 1,503. The financials remain in focus. Citigroup surged 20% on the open. AIG, Freddie, Fannie, and Bank of America are higher as well. GE is up 4% on positive comments that GE Capital will remain profitable for the full year. Outside the financials, plenty of other positive developments. Oracle is jumping 12% after beating estimates by 3 cents. Corning is higher thanks to encouraging comments regarding business. AMD raised estimates however the company continues to lose money. Other good signs are coming from earnings reports from FedEx, Barnes & Noble, and Nike. FedEx is jumping 7% on encouraging signs business could pick up. Barnes & Noble is up 2%. Nike blew past estimates, however the stock is lower. Childrens' Place is lower even though they beat estimates. After the first half an hour, the averages sold off. Many of the financials fell into the red except for Citigroup. After the first hour, the Dow was down 15 points. The Nasdaq was unchanged. The commodities are performing well ever since the Fed's announcement yesterday. Through the morning, the selling accelerated particularly within the financials. Citigroup, among others, dropped over 25% from its' morning highs. Wild times. Commodities remain the strongest sector. In the afternoon the averages remained weak selling back off in the last hour toward the lows of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 85 points at 7,400. The S&P 500 declined 10 points to 784 while the Nasdaq Composite shed 7 points to close at 1,483.

All comments contained herein are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The firm does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information or make any warranties regarding results from it's usage.