May 6, 2011

May 6, 2011
The major averages jump over 1% to start the day thanks to better than expected April payrolls data reviving a market knocked down by heavy selling pressure within the commodity space. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 144 points to 12,728. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 16 points to 1,351. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 33 points to 2,847. The earnings keep flooding in better than expected. Mohawk, Kodiak Oil & Gas, CF Industries, Constellation Energy, Dow Corning, Diana Shipping, and Madison Square Garden are higher following earnings. The commodities are snapping back pretty good this morning. Fertilizer firm, CF Industries is jumping 8% following earnings. The oils are bouncing back even though Goldman Sachs made cautious comments on the price of crude. Hess and Apache are jumping over 3% thanks to upgrades. The financials are performing well. Cowen is jumping 3% following earnings. Citigroup is modestly higher on an upgrade. In the tech space, everything looks pretty good. Research in Motion and Intel are about the only top tech firms trading lower. Rumors Apple will dump the Intel chip in favor of Arm Holdings' chip for their Mac book has that stock jumping 7%. Through the morning the averages remained strong with the Dow rising 160 points and the Nasdaq rising 40 points. A few stocks are trading lower following earnings including Priceline, QLogic, Alcatel-Lucent, K-Swiss, and Weight Watchers. During the lunch hour and through the afternoon the rally started to fizzle. That's not a good sign. The financials have lost all their gains. The techs and commodities are higher, but not as much. In the last hour the averages were able to hold on to some gains. Not an encouraging close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 54 points at 12,638. The S&P 500 gained 5 points to 1,340. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 12 points to 2,827. For the week, the Dow average lost 1.3%, the S&P 500 fell 1.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.6%.

May 5, 2011
U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday, extending losses into a fourth day for two of the three benchmark indexes, as equities and commodities get hit again after a surprise rise in jobless claims. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 70 points to 12,652. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 10 points to 1,337. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 14 points to 2,813. Stocks don't seem to be rallying anymore following earnings. The list of stocks trading lower after earnings include Transocean, Atmel, Prudential, Metlife, Cablevision, Orbitz, GM, Fortune Brands, Sara Lee, Huntsman, Progressive Energy, Pride International, and Frontier Oil. The commodity plays keep reporting spectacular earnings, but the sector is under profit-taking. The retail sector report strong April sales thanks to the later Easter, but investors were not impressed. Most retailers are lower. Aeropostale is down 11% after lowering guidance. Estee Lauder is one of the few trading higher following earnings. GM had great earnings, raised guidance, but the stock is lower. Telsa Motors is higher after beating estimates. After the first half an hour the averages started to rebound led by commodities and techs. In the tech space Apple, Google, and the high flying techs look good. The financials and insurance stocks are lower. Metlife and Prudential are both lower following earnings. After the first hour the Dow sold back off dropping 80 points. The Nasdaq declined 8 points. It looks like we're in a correction. Through the morning the Dow fell over 100 points before rebounding. The Nasdaq is holding up better thanks to the old tech and the highflying tech. Commodity stocks are bouncing modestly even as commodity prices for silver, oil, and gold move sharply lower. In the afternoon the averages tried to rallying a couple of times, but failed. In the last hour the selling accelerated in the commodity space. The price of oil futures is down 10% today. I wish the price at the pump fell as quickly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 139 points, or 1.1%, to end at 12,584, its worst point slide since April 18th. The Nasdaq Composite fell 13 points to 2814, while the S&P 500 dropped 12 points to 1335. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 are down everyday this week.

May 4, 2011
U.S. stocks opened mostly lower on Wednesday as Wall Street began what could be another day of price consolidation even though the employment data continues to improve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 16 points to 12,790. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 2 point to 1,354. The Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 2 points to 2,844. The earnings keep coming in better than expected, but we do see some profit-taking. First Solar, Plantronics, XL Capital, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Peet's Coffee, and Las Vegas Sands, Kellogg, Devon Energy, Anheuser Busch, and Agrium are all lower following earnings. The commodities have taken it on the chin lately. The price of silver is down 20% in the last couple of days. Nothing in the commodity space looks good. Chesapeake Energy and Transocean were upgraded, but both are lower. A few stocks are sharply higher following earnings. Green Mountain Coffee is jumping 20% following earnings. AOL, RR Donnelly, and MGM look great following earnings. A couple of deals today. Chip equipment maker Varian is jumping 51% on a takeover offer from Applied Materials. Ralcorp is jumping 6% after ConAgra raised their takeover offer for the firm. Other than that, not many stocks are higher. Through the morning the averages pushed lower with the Dow dropping over 100 points and the Nasdaq declining 30 points. Only a handful of blue chips are higher. Interestingly the old guard techs are higher like HP, Microsoft, Intel, and Dell. In the last hour the averages remained weak, but improved into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 83 points at 12,723, led by a 2.2% drop in Caterpillar shares and a 1.8% retreat in General Electric. The S&P 500 fell 9 points to 1,347, with energy and materials leading a drop in all sectors. The Nasdaq Composite lost 13 points to 2,828.

May 3, 2011
U.S. stocks started Tuesday's session with minor losses, following a couple disappointing corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 7 points to 12,800, led by a 2% drop in shares of Pfizer after the drug company reported earnings. The S&P 500 fell 2 points to 1,358 with energy and materials sectors leading losses. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 3 points to 2,861. To the downside we have Sears dropping 8% after lowering guidance. Texas Roadhouse, ADP, McCormick & Schmick, Mylan, Clorox, Gaylord Entertainment, and Molson Coors are all lower following earnings. The commodity sector is taking a hit. Spectra Energy, Emerson Electric, Rowan, Marathon Oil, Apache, and Suncor Energy are all lower following earnings. Arch Coal and Patriot Coal received upgrades, but both are lower. Duke Energy is modestly higher following earnings. The rare earth stocks are on fire. Molycorp is jumping 8% on an upgrade. The averages are weak, but the financials are acting well. Mastercard is up 3% on earnings. Ares Capital is up 2% on earnings. Bank of America is higher by 2% on positive analyst comments. Hartford jumped last night on their earnings report, but is unchanged now. Legg Mason and National Financial Partners are down 5% following earnings. Beazer Homes is down 3% on earnings. The housing sector isn't improving at all. In the tech space only a few select stocks are higher. Apple, Intel, and IBM look good and that's about it. After the first hour the averages remain in the red, but not by much. Through the morning the high flying techs and commodities remain weak , but everything else improved. The Dow rallied into the green led by financials, Alcoa, IBM, and Intel. Automaker GM is up 2% on an upgrade and better than expected April sales. In the afternoon the averages moved lower once again with the Dow and Nasdaq declining 30 points. The financials and a select number of techs remain in the green. In the last hour the Dow rallied while the Nasdaq remained depressed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished unchanged at 12,807. Alcoa led percentage gainers, rising 2.6%. Pfizer shares led decliners, falling 2.8%. The S&P 500 fell 4 points to 1,356, led by a 2.4% drop in energy stocks. The Nasdaq Composite lost 22 points to 2,841 points.

May 2, 2011
U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday as Wall Street cheered news that U.S. forces had killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 49 points to 12,859. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 4 points to 1,367. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 7 points to 2,880. Merger Monday continues. Arch Coal is buying ICG for $3.4 billion. Teva Pharmaceuticals made an offer to buy Cephalon and Volcom received a takeover offer from a private equity firm. ICG is jumping 30%, Volcom is up 24%, and Teva and Cephalon are higher by more than 3%. The earnings keep coming in. Dish Networks is jumping 24% following earnings. Old National Bancorp is up 3% following earnings. The financials in general are trading higher this morning. Goldman Sachs looks good. CAN Financial and Loews are lower following earnings. Trex, Moog, and Edison are lower after reporting earnings. The commodities in general opened lower. Silver plunged 10% overnight. The US dollar is rallying on the news of bin Laden's death. Through the first hour the averages pulled back due to some profit-taking. Sell in May and go away is all you hear on CNBC. Following the first hour the commodities and the major averages rebounded. Alcoa and Occidental Petroleum are higher on upgrades. Within the Dow, IBM is trading up 1.6% to new highs. Can't keep that stock down. Through the morning the averages remain in the green. The techs seem to be the only sector struggling. Google, Apple, Intel, and Microsoft are lower. Research in Motion reiterated earnings of $7.50 a share for next year, a full one dollar above consensus estimates, but the stock is not reacting. That's an awful sign. In the afternoon the rally started to fizzle, falling into the red and accelerating in the last hour only to rebound into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 3 points at 12,807, marking its first down day in five sessions. Shares of Chevron were among the bigger decliners, down 1.2%. The S&P 500 fell 2 points to end at 1,361 while the Nasdaq dipped 9 points to closed at 2,864.