January 8, 2010

Jan 8, 2010
U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday as investors registered initial dismay over a mostly disappointing jobs report. For the month of December the U.S. lost 80,000 jobs, however we did get a revised November employment number of a plus 4,000 jobs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26 points to 10,579. The S&P 500 dropped 2 points to 1,139 while the Nasdaq Composite Index declined a point to 2,298. The averages are quiet, but there are some stocks moving. UPS is jumping 5% after lifting guidance for the quarter. FedEx is up as well. The financials are modestly lower after a nice run up this week. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan all had their numbers cut this morning. Barclays, Visa, Deutsche Bank, and Mastercard are modestly higher on upgrades. Bank of America and GE continue to perform well. The techs opened lower, but then rebounded. Garmin is up 4% on an upgrade. IBM, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Research in Motion are modestly higher. Qualcomm is higher even though one analyst made cautious comments. Netgear is higher on positive comments from Barrons. The retail space is lower following a strong day yesterday. Boeing, Macys, and Coke are lower on downgrades. JC Penney, Tiffanys, and Aeropostale are lower on upgrades. Best Buy posted strong sales for December, but the stock is lower. Chipotle Mexican Grill is up 6% on an upgrade. The commodities, in particular, the fertilizers are trading higher. After the first hour the Dow remained weak. The Nasdaq is in the green by 6 points. Through the morning the Dow pulled back a few points while the Nasdaq inched higher thanks to the big techs. In the afternoon more of the same. In the last hour the Nasdaq moved higher dragging the Dow out of the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 11 points at 10,618, giving it a weekly and yearly rise of 1.8%. The S&P 500 climbed 3 points to 1,144, up 2.7% for the week and year. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 17 points to 2,317, rallying 2.1% for the week and the year.

Jan 7, 2010
U.S. stocks tallied mild opening losses on Thursday as resource-related shares fell along with the price of commodities including gold and oil. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 17 points to 10,556. The S&P 500 dropped a point to 1,136 while the Nasdaq Composite Index shed a point to 2,299. The retail sector is in focus on better than expected December sales. Sears is jumping 12% after lifting guidance. Macys, Aeropostale, and Kohls all lifted numbers. Dicks and Mattel are higher on upgrades. TJX is up 3% thanks to strong December sales. Bed Bath & Beyond and Ruby Tuesdays are both up over 4% on strong earnings. A few retailers are lower. Rite Aid is down 3% on a downgrade. Gamestop is down 16% after cutting estimates significantly. The techs are weak for a second straight even though Google, Apple, and SAP were upgraded. Only SAP is higher. The financials are quiet this morning. Mastercard is lower on a downgrade while Bank of America is up a percent on an upgrade. It's been a good week for Bank of America. After the first half an hour the Dow declined 45 points. Within the Dow, Alcoa and Dupont are lower on downgrades. The Nasdaq declined 12 points. Through the morning the Dow improved thanks to the financials. The techs are trying to rebound. Google dropped 2% then rebounded thanks to some positive analyst comments. The retailers continue to perform well. In the afternoon and in the last hour the Dow improved thanks to a great rally in the financials. The techs are not participating including Google which is down 2% today and 5% this week. Ouch. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 33 points at 10,606. The S&P 500 Index gained 4 points to 1,141. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell a point to 2,300.

Jan 6, 2010
U.S. stocks on Wednesday opened mixed following a softer-than-expected reading on jobs in the private sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined a point to 10,570. The S&P 500 declined fractionally to 1,136. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 5 points to 2,313. The tech sector is lower, but the analysts remain bullish. Sandisk, Salesforce.com, Amazon, Qualcomm, EMC, Microsoft, SAP, Google, Micron, and Intel were all upgraded. A few are higher including Sandisk, SAP, and Micron. Google is down nearly 2% after releasing their Nexus phone yesterday. Some traders are concerned Google's phone will hurt margins in the short term. The financials are quiet this morning. Genworth is up 2% to new recent highs. The stock has seen strong momentum and heavy option activity recently. In the commodity space, Mosaic had solid earnings last night. The stock is modestly higher along with the rest of the fertilizer stocks. In the retail space, Family Dollar is up 11% on better than expected earnings. Kohls is up a percent on an upgrade. The retailers in general are holding firm like the broader markets. After the first hour the averages remained near the unchanged level. Through the morning and into the lunch hour the averages remain near the unchanged level. The financials have improved a little, but the big cap techs remain weak. In the last hour the Dow nudged into the green, but the techs remained in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up a point at 10,573. The S&P 500 gained less than a point to 1,137, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7 points to 2,301.


Jan 5, 2010
U.S. stocks opened mildly lower on Tuesday, with investors stepping back after the prior day's rally and ahead of economic data that includes reports on factory orders and pending home sales. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26 points to 10,556. The S&P 500 Index declined a point to 1131. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 5 points to 2,303. The averages are a little weaker, but the analyst community is bullish. In the tech sector Research in Motion, Palm, Qualcomm, Apple, Corning, Western Digital, Motorola, Dell, LSI, Nvidia, and Microsoft were all upgraded. Corning and Qualcomm were upgraded by two analysts. Corning is at a new high. Qualcomm, Palm, Research in Motion, Apple, Motorola, Dell, and Microsoft are higher. Apple leaked news their Apple tablet will be released in March. Google is expected to debut their cellphone day. The stock is modestly lower. The financials are modestly higher. Goldman and Morgan Stanley are higher even though they had their quarterly estimates cut. Charles Schwab is lower on a downgrade while Capital One is higher on an upgrade. After the first half an hour the averages pushed lower on weak housing data. The Dow dropped 50 points. The Nasdaq declined 10 points. In the commodity space the fertilizers are shooting higher thanks to a couple of upgrades. Chesapeake Energy continues to perform well after agreeing to sell a stake in a shale natural gas business yesterday. Through the morning and into the lunch hour the Dow remained in the red. The financials are performing well. Many of the commodities are performing well. The big techs are quiet or slightly lower. In the afternoon, Ford jumped 8% on strong December sales. Google moved lower after the released of their new Nexus phone. Most of the big cap techs are pulling back. In the last hour the averages started to recover led in part by the financials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 11 points at 10,572. The S&P 500 Index added 3 points to 1,136. The Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 29 cents to 2,308.



Jan 4, 2010
U.S. stocks on Monday started the year's first day of trading higher, with energy shares rising the most as oil topped $80 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 87 points to 10,515. The S&P 500 Index gained 11 points to 1,126, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 31 points to 2,300. Within the commodity space, Freeport McMoran is jumping 4%. Chesapeake Energy is jumping 6% after agreeing to sell a gas shale division for $2.5 billion. Chevron is up 2% on a positive Barrons piece. The fertilizer stocks are all performing well. The tech sector is also performing well this morning. IBM, Google, Apple, and Corning are at new 52 week highs. Google was upgraded this morning with a $810 price target. Other techs upgrades this morning include Intel, EMC, Seagate, Western Digital, Microsoft, Oracle, and Atmel. All are trading higher. The financials look good this morning. Morgan Stanley is up 4% on two upgrades. Goldman Sachs continues to perform well. PNC is also higher on an upgrade. In the retail space the upgrades this morning include Tiffanys, American Eagle, Chicos, Gap, AnnTaylor, Ross Stores, and TJX. Tiffanys is up 3%. The rest are modestly lower. After the first hour the Dow jumped 145 points to within a few points of new highs for the last year. The Nasdaq rose 39 points or 1.75%. Through the morning the averages pushed higher. The Dow jumped 160 points to new highs for the last year above 10600. The Nasdaq remained strong. Through the afternoon the averages moved sideways at the highs of the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 155 points, or 1.5%, at 10,583. The S&P 500 Index climbed 17 points, or 1.6%, to close at 1,132. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 39 points, or 1.7%, to 2,308.