June 21, 2012

June 21, 2012
U.S. stocks opened near flat Thursday after Spain sold more debt than anticipated and weekly claims for jobless benefits illustrating the tepid U.S. labor market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13 points to 12,837. The S&P 500 index fell nearly a point to 1,354. The Nasdaq Composite fell 6 points to 2,924. The markets are holding up even as the economic news continues to decline. PG preannounced yesterday. Today we have Phillip Morris down a percent after lowering guidance. On the earnings front, Bed Bath & Beyond is getting hit down 15%. The retailers in general are lower. Under Armour is lower by 6% on a downgrade. Best Buy upped their dividend by a penny, but the stock is lower by 2%. ConAgra is up by 3% on earnings while TJX is higher on an upgrade. PVH is bouncing after reaffirming earnings. The stock is in a correction down 15% in the last two months. In the tech space Red Hat is down 5% on disappointing earnings. The big caps like Intel, IBM, and Google are under a little pressure. Seagate is down 3% on cautious analyst comments. Only Apple is holding in the green. The financials are holding firm. JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, and US Bancorp are modestly higher. The defensive sectors like utilities and healthcare are performing well. Merck made a new 52 week high while many of the others are within a percent of their highs. The sector is waiting for the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare. The consumer staples are performing well except for Philip Morris. At 10 o'clock weaker than expected manufacturing data hit the averages with the Dow falling 40 points while the Nasdaq dropped 20 points. After the first hour the averages slowly recovered. A resilient market even as the economic numbers move lower. Oil below $80 a barrel is a good indication that global growth has slowed. By late morning Goldman Sachs put out a report telling clients to short the S&P 500. Once this news disseminated, the broader market sold off. During the lunch hour the Dow fell 100 points with the Nasdaq declining 25 points. In the afternoon the averages kept drifting lower with the Dow declining 200 points and the Nasdaq dropping 60 points or 2%. Oil fell $3 back below $80 a barrel for the first time since last fall. Gold dropped $50. Thanks Goldman. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 250 points, or 2%, to 12,573. The S&P 500 lost 30 points, or 2.2%, to 1,325. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 71 points, or 2.4%, to 2,859.

June 20, 2012
U.S. stocks opened mildly lower Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index pausing after a four-session winning run, as investors looked to a policy decision from the Federal Reserve later in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15 points to 12,821. The S&P 500 shed a point to 1,356. The Nasdaq Composite declined 4 points to 2,925. A great run in the broader markets may come to an end with the comments from the Fed. Having said that the averages may trade sideways until this afternoon. One ominous sign as the quarter comes to an end are preannouncements. PG is the dog of the day down 3% after lowering guidance. Surprisingly, the news isn't hurting the broader market. Through the first hour the averages held in there. In the tech space things are mixed. Adobe is down 3% following earnings and a downgrade while Jabil Circuit is jumping 7% on earnings and an upgrade. Applied Materials is jumping 3% on earnings while Google is modestly lower on a downgrade. The financials are struggling after a great run. JP Morgan continues its' run up another 2.5% today and up over 15% for the month with a dividend coming in the first week of July. Annaly is unchanged after reaffirming their dividend last night. In the energy patch Exxon looks good, but everything else is struggling. Conoco Phillips is down 2% on a downgrade. Rare Earth company, Molycorp is jumping 10% on news out of China regarding rare earth pricing. The defensive sectors are struggling this morning. Southern Company is down 2% on a downgrade. Walgreens is down again this time on a downgrade following news they want to expand with an acquisition in Europe. Wellpoint is lower on a downgrade, but up 10% for the month ahead of the Supreme Court decision on Obama's healthcare package. During the lunch hour the averages started to drift lower ahead of the Fed's comments. At 12:30, the averages took a sharp hit as the Fed decided to continue Operation Twist. The Dow dropped a quick 90 points while the Nasdaq declined 18 points. Surprisingly, the averages battled all the way back rallying into the green. But the rally didn't last. When the Fed Chairman addressed the media the averages sold off once again retesting the lows. In the last hour the averages once again battled back. Very impressive. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12 points to 12,824, ending a four-session streak of gains. The S&P 500 lost 2 points to 1,355. Extending its rise into a fifth session, the Nasdaq Composite rose just 69 cents to 2,930.