December 24, 2009

December 25, 2009

Markets closed. Merry Christmas.


December 24, 2009
U.S. stock indexes opened higher Thursday, supported by early reports that showed U.S. jobless claims in the latest week fell to 452,000 and orders for durable goods, excluding transportation, strengthened last month. S&P 500 rose 3 points to 1,123, led by gains in materials and financials sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 24 points to 10,491. The Nasdaq Composite added 7 points to 2,276. Senate passed the historic health-care bill today. The healthcare stocks are modestly lower, but don't seem to be hurt by the bill. The techs in general keep pushing higher. Google and Apple are pushing to new highs while Research in Motion is lower once again. IBM is making a new high for the year this morning. The commodities are modestly higher. Fertilizer stock, Mosaic was downgraded, but the stock is higher. The financials are modestly higher. After the first hour the averages pushed higher. All three major averages are at new highs for the year. The markets are on cruise control. In the last hour (Noon to 1PM) the averages remained strong closing at new highs for the year. A nice Santa Claus rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 50 points at 10520. The Dow rose 1.85% for the week. The S&P 500 rose 5 points to close at 1126, rising 2.18% on the week. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 16 points to close at 2285. The tech index rose 3.35% on the week.


December 23, 2009
U.S. stocks on Wednesday started tentatively higher for a fourth straight day of gains after the Commerce Department reported U.S. income and spending climbed in November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 14 points to 1,115. The S&P 500 Index added 3 points to 1,121. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 7 points to 2,260. The techs are performing well again. Micron and Red Hat are both up 5% after beating estimates. Both were upgraded. Google and Corning are both making new highs. Corning was upgraded while Google's Android is being accepted in China. Applied Materials and Seagate are higher on upgrades. 3Com is unchanged after beating estimates. HP is in the process of buying out the firm. Research in Motion opened lower, but rebounded after experiencing an outage last night for virtually all customers. The financials are quiet. The retail sector is modestly higher. Finish Line is up 8% after beating estimates last night. The commodities are weak. The fertilizers are weak on cautious comments. After the first hour the Dow gave up all its' gains. The Nasdaq is modestly in the green. Through the morning the Dow remained modestly in the red. The Nasdaq remained modestly in the green. Google and Apple continue to perform well. The commodities turned around, pushing higher. Many retailers improved as well. In the afternoon the Dow moved back into the green. The techs, retailers, and commodities pushed higher. Ford is in double digits at new highs. I didn't think that was possible six months ago. In the last hour the Dow gravitated back to the unchanged level. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up a point at 10,466. The S&P 500 added 2 points to 1,120. The Nasdaq Composite rose 16 points to 2,269.



December 22, 2009
U.S. stocks opened modestly higher following government data indicating that economic growth in the third quarter was not as strong as initially forecasted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 40 points to 10,454. The S&P 500 Index added 4 points to 1,118. The Nasdaq Composite rose 10 points to 2,248. The techs are in the lead this morning with Progressive Software jumping 8% after beating estimates. Google made a new high this morning thanks to an upgrade from Goldman Sachs. AOL is modestly higher on an upgrade. Yahoo is modestly higher even though they are shutting down non-essential operations for the rest of the month. That's not good. Research in Motion opened higher, but then sold off. One analyst made cautious comments. Rival Apple continues to perform well, touching $200 once again. In the retail space Hasbro, Briggs & Stratton, Starbucks, MeadWestvaco, and Bed Bath & Beyond are all higher on upgrades. The financials are modestly higher. State Street is up 3% after making a $1.87 billion acquisition. Piper Jaffray is up 2% on an upgrade. After the first hour the averages remained strong near the highs of the day. In the afternoon the averages remained where they started, but a number of stocks are selling off. A number of the financials and commodities pulled back. Research in Motion dropped 3.5%. That's not good. In the last hour, no changes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 50 points to 10,464. The S&P 500 Index climbed 3 points to 1,118. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 15 points to 2,252.


December 21, 2009
U.S. stocks began strongly higher on Monday, with telecom and information technology shares up the most, after some positive earnings reports and M&A activity in the pharmaceutical sector boosted sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86 points to 10,415. The S&P 500 Index climbed 11 points to 1,113. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 22 points to 2,233. Plenty of news this morning. Sanofi-Aventis is buying Chattem for $1.9 billion. Chattem is jumping 32%. The commodities are performing well. Alcoa is up 7% on an upgrade and a multi-billion dollar deal with the Saudis. The fertilizer stocks are higher thanks to a positive piece in Barrons and upgrades from Goldman Sachs. The financials are higher. Barrons ran a positive piece on Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, and JP Morgan. Visa and Mastercard were upgraded, but both are lower. Fifth Third is the top pick at Bernstein for 2010. In the tech space, Research in Motion's solid earnings last week is still paying dividends this week. Apple, Google, IBM, Intel, Oracle, and Micron are all higher. Micron, Apple, Intel, and Oracle were all upgraded. In the retail space plenty of upgrades. Amazon, Gap, American Eagle, and Dicks were all upgraded. All are higher. The healthcare HMOs are higher on upgrades. I guess the healthcare bill isn't as bad for the HMOs as investors feared. Our taxes are certainly going up because of it. After the first hour the averages pushed higher. The Dow rose over 100 points. The Nasdaq improved by 23 points. Through the morning the averages remained right at the highs of the day. A few stocks have sold off like Citigroup, Research in Motion, Yahoo, Adobe, and Starbucks. In the afternoon the averages remained strong, but off the highs of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 85 points at 10,414. The S&P 500 Index added 11 points to 1,114. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 25 points to 2,237.