August 21, 2009

U.S. stocks kicked off Friday sharply higher with energy stocks in the lead with crude prices pushing to new highs of the year above $74 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45 points to 9,395. The S&P 500 Index added 6 points to 1,013 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 11 points to 2,000. The retail earnings keep coming in. Gap is up 3% on solid earnings and two upgrades. Aeropostale is up 6% on strong earnings and an upgrade. JM Smuckers is up 5% on strong earnings. Childrens Place and Dicks are higher on upgrades. AnnTaylor and Pacific Sunwear are lower following earnings. In the tech sector Salesforce.com is up 14% on strong earnings while Brocade is lower by 6% following earnings. Google is up a percent to new recent highs following a Goldman Sachs upgrade on Thursday. At 10 o'clock the averages received a jolt to the upside thanks to better than expected housing sales numbers for July. The Dow shot up 150 points led by the financials. The Nasdaq rose 24 points. Can't keep this market down. One sector not participating in the rally are the solar stocks thanks to Jefferies downgrading the group. First Solar is down 3% on the day. Through the morning and into the afternoon, the averages remained strong. The financials look great. Citigroup, AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac keep pushing higher. In the last hour the Dow and Nasdaq pushed to new highs for the year. Go figure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 155 points, or 1.7%, to close at 9,505. The S&P 500 added 18 points, or 1.9%, to end at 1,026 while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 31 points, to 1.6%, to 2,020. Another great week.

August 20, 2009
U.S. stocks open modestly higher following disappointing data showing jobless claims unexpectedly rose this last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 11 points to 9,290. The S&P 500 Index rose 2 points to 999 while Nasdaq Composite added 6 points to 1,976. The retailers are in focus with plenty of earnings. Harman, Dicks, Heinz, Hormel Foods, Ross Stores, Gymboree, and Bon-Ton are all higher thanks to earnings. Bon-Ton is up 28%. Petsmart, GameStop, Childrens Place, and Sears are lower following earnings. Sears is down 12% after missing estimates by 52 cents. The financials are performing well. Citigroup keeps pushing higher as more investors warm up to the stock. In the tech sector Network Appliance is down 4% following earnings. The popular tech names are all higher. Google is jumping 3% on a bullish upgrade over at Goldman Sachs. After the first half an hour the averages remain in the green, but not by much. Through the morning the averages
inched higher. The financials are improving and most of the retailers remain strong. In the afternoon more of the same. The troubled financials like Citigroup, AIG, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac are performing great. In the last hour no sell off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 70 points at 9,350. The S&P 500 Index added 10 points to 1,007, bringing it above the 1,000-level for the first time this week. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 19 points to 1,989.


August 19, 2009
U.S. stocks dropped at Wednesday's start after another steep drop in Chinese equities fanned worries that stock evaluations had surpassed expectations of a global economic recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 73 points to 9,144. Alcoa is down 5% on a downgrade from Goldman Sachs. The S&P 500 Index dipped 8 points to 980. The Nasdaq Composite declined 19 points to 1,936. The earnings keep coming in better than expected, but cautious guidance has both Deere and HP trading down over 2%. Eaton Vance and Analog Devices are also lower following earnings. BJ Wholesale is higher after beating earnings estimates. Plenty of upgrades and downgrades particularly in the retail sector. Ann Taylor is up 5% on an upgrade. Target, Gymboree, and Gap are modestly higher on upgrades. Lowes was downgraded and Home Depot was upgraded, but both are modestly lower. After the first half an hour, the averages recovered most of the losses. The retailers and
financials are moving into the green. Citigroup is unchanged following more insider buying. Home builders, Toll Brothers and D.R. Horton are modestly lower on downgrades. Disney is higher on an upgrade while Cigna is lower on a downgrade. A mixed market. Through the morning the averages remain in the red, but not by much. Financials and retailers are holding up well. At the start of the lunch hour, the averages were hit with a spike in buying. No real reason for the buying enthusiasm. The Dow pushed higher, rising 85 points back above 9300. The Nasdaq rose just 13 points. In the last hour, the averages pulled back from the highs, but remained in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 61 points at 9,279. The S&P 500 Index climbed 6 points to 996, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 13 points to 1,969.



August 18, 2009
U.S. stocks on Tuesday started mildly higher, with financial and consumer discretionary shares fronting the bounce back after the prior session's big hit. Better than expected inflation data is also lending support. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 38 points to 9,174. American Express is up 3% on an upgrade. The S&P 500 Index rose 3 points to 983, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 12 points to 1,942. The retailers are in focus. Home Depot and Saks are trading higher on better than expected earnings. Target and Dillards are both up 5% after easily beating estimates. Urban Outfitters is up 2% thanks to positive comments from James Cramer last night. TJX is lower by 3% even though they beat earnings by a penny. The financials are performing well. Goldman Sachs, American Express, and BB&T were all upgraded. Most of the techs are higher. Corning is up 3% on an upgrade. Agilent is up 9% after beating estimates. Texas Instruments is modestly higher
on an upgrade. Apple
and Research in Motion look good, but Google is lower. Rosetta Stone was yesterday's dog, down over 25% after lowering guidance. Today some brilliant analyst downgraded the stock. Todays diamond goes to Huron Consulting up 40% as concerns of a accounting scandal wane. After the first hour, the averages remained strong with the Dow up 50 points. The Nasdaq rose 11 points. Through the morning the averages pushed higher. So far so good. In the afternoon, the averages pushed higher once again. Entering the last hour, the Dow was up 90 points. The financials look good. The Nasdaq rose 25 points. The healthcare sector performed great yesterday on a down day. Today, the healthcare sector is one of the few sectors lower due to more government involved. In the last hour, a little bit of a pullback, but not much. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 82 points at 9,217. The S&P 500 Index gained 9 points to 989, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 25 points
to end at 1,955.


August 17, 2009
U.S. stocks opened steeply lower on Monday following weakness in China and Europe. Everyone wants the markets to pull back, and at least for today, they are getting what they want. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 141 points to 9,179. The S&P 500 Index dropped 17 points to 986, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 36 points to 1,948. Broad based weakness across the board. The only sector trading higher is healthcare. President Obama seems to be backing away from his health insurance plan helping the HMOs. Unitedhealth Group is up 2%, Humana is up 3%, and Aetna is up 3% on an upgrade. The financials are weak as more banks failed over the weekend. BB&T is raising $750 million in common stock to pay for the acquisition of Colonial Bank with help from the FDIC. Charles Schwab is down 2% as New York is building a case to sue the firm for promoting auction rate securities. American Express is lower by 4% on cautious comments from RBC. Capital One is lower by
2% as credit card charge offs rise. On the earnings front, Lowes is down 3% after missing estimates. Valspar beat estimates, but the stock is lower by 2%. The IPO honeymoon is over for Rosetta Stone. The language software provider came public back April, performed well for a couple of months, but today the stock is lower by 25% after lowering guidance. After the first half an hour, the Dow dropped 160 points. The Nasdaq declined 42 points. Through the morning and into the afternoon, the averages remained in the red. Healthcare related stocks are the only ones trading higher. Besides the HMOs, Merck and Pfizer are modestly higher on upgrades. In the last hour, no rebound. The Dow Jones Industrial fell 186 points, or 2%, to close at 9,135. The S&P 500 Index dropped 24 points, or 2.4%, to 979, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 54 points, or 2.8%, to 1,930.