September 17, 2010

Sept 17, 2010
U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday, with Wall Street's enthusiasm rising after another burst of M&A and robust results from the technology sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 50 points to 10,645. The S&P 500 Index rose 5 points to 1,130. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 13 points to 2,316. Better than expected earnings from Oracle and Research in Motion last night are helping the tech sector. Oracle is up 6% while Research in Motion is higher by 2%. Texas Instruments is modestly higher after announcing a share buyback and raising the dividend. Not bad. Dividends are back in vogue. Microsoft is modestly higher even though it was downgraded. Micron and Sandisk are lower on downgrades. HP is lower even though they expect to introduce a new CEO in the coming weeks. In the retail sector TravelZoo is higher by 6% on an upgrade. Illinois Tool Works is higher after reaffirming earnings. Pier 1 is lower even though it was upgraded. After the first half an hour the averages gave up most of their gains. The commodities are in the red. The financials are modestly higher. A weaker than expected consumer sentiment number out shortly before 10 sent the Dow into the red and the Nasdaq back toward the unchanged level. Through the morning the averages battled to stay near the unchanged level. Resilient market. In the afternoon the averages did not vacillate far from the unchanged. The Nasdaq remains in the green led by Google, Texas Instruments, and Research in Motion. In the last hour the averages were able to post modest gains. Research in Motion, however, gave up all its' gains. The poor shareholders of Research in Motion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 13 points to 10,607. The S&P 500 Index rose nearly a point to 1,125 leaving it 1.5% higher on the week. Finishing higher for an eighth straight session, its longest yet this year, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 12 points to 2,315, up 3.3% from last Friday's close.

Sept 16, 2010
U.S. stocks opened mildly lower on Thursday after global shipper FedEx projected earnings for the second quarter and full 2010 came in beneath expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20 points to 10,552. The S&P 500 fell 3 points to 1,121. The Nasdaq Composite declined 2 points to 2,298. The FedEx numbers are not helping things. Williams Company is down 3% after lowering numbers and Dress Barn is down 2% after missing earnings estimates. But not all the news is bad. Gamestop is jumping 7% after announcing a big share buyback. Pier One is up 4% following earnings. Ford is up 3% on an upgrade. Saks is higher on rumors of takeover talk. Amazon is higher on an upgrade. At 10 o'clock a weaker than expected Manufacturing number sent the Dow down 50 points. The Nasdaq declined 12 points. However the sell off did not last. Within the first hour the averages were battling back to the unchanged level. That's a good sign. The commodities are acting well like Freeport McMoRan and the fertilizers. Through the morning and into the lunch hour the averages remained in the red, but not by much. The commodities still look good. Ford is up 5% now and Research in Motion is higher ahead of earnings tonight. Oracle is trading lower ahead of earnings. In the last hour the averages were about to hold on to gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 22 points at 10,594 with 19 of its 30 components rising, led by a 1.8% rise in shares of Hewlett-Packard. The S&P 500 index fell less than a point to 1,124, weighed by the energy, utilities and financials sectors. The Nasdaq Composite gained a point to 2,303.

Sept 15, 2010
U.S. stocks slid at Wednesday's start after a report pointed to slowing growth in manufacturing in the New York region. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22 points to 10,503. The S&P 500 Index shed 4 points to 1,116. The Nasdaq Composite declined 6 points to 2,283. A quiet morning for news so far. The commodities are getting hit once again. AK Steel is down 4% on cautious comments. Rowan is bucking the trend up 3% on an upgrade. Beazer Homes is down 3% after cutting guidance. The financials are lower this morning once again. SunTrust is down a percent even though their earnings estimates were raised by one analyst. Travelers is up 2% near its five month highs on no news. After the first half an hour the averages were unchanged. Quiet morning. In the afternoon the averages slowly improved led by the Dow Jones. The financials and consumer staples are acting well. In the last hour the averages kept improving moving to new highs for the day. Not bad. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 46 points at 10,572, with 21 of its 30 components rising, led by shares of Travelers up 2.9%. The S&P 500 index gained 3 points to 1,125, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 11 points to 2,301.32.

Sept 14, 2010
U.S. stocks started modestly lower on Tuesday after a four-session advance, with investors pausing after the Commerce Department reported retail sales climbed 0.4% in August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26 points to 10,517. The S&P 500 dropped 3 points to 1,118. The Nasdaq Composite declined 8 points to 2,277. A number of commodity plays lowered guidance hurting that sector. Cliffs Natural Resources is down 5% after lowering coal production while steelmaker Nucor lowered guidance as well. Nucor is down 2.5%. The fertilizers are trading lower. Exxon Mobil is lower on a downgrade. Schlumberger is lower on cautious comments. Freeport McMoRan opened lower, but then rebounded. That's a good sign. The averages actually rebounded as well following the open. The retailers look great. Best Buy is up 6% as they raised guidance. Another retailer Zumiez is jumping 13% following earnings last night. Cracker Barrel is up 6% following earnings. Kroger is up 2% following earnings. Office Max is up 4% after raising profit margins. Priceline and Petsmart are higher on an upgrade. The techs are performing well. Intel is higher even though it was downgraded. Corning lowered glass demand, but the stock is jumping 5% following better than expected earnings from Best Buy. The financials are modestly lower after a big run up over the last number of trading days. After the first hour the averages were modestly in the green. Resilient market again. Through the morning the averages actually improved. JP Morgan is making positive comments about their capital ratios and also about raising the dividend in early 2011. HP is jumping 4% on rumors the company has found their new CEO. Cisco is up 2.5% after hinting they will pay a dividend sometime next year. In the afternoon the averages rebounded and then sold off into the close. The Dow Jones finished down 17 points at 10526. The Nasdaq rose 4 points to 2289 while the S&P 500 closed down 80 cents at 1121.

Sept 13, 2010
U.S. stocks started higher on Monday with investor sentiment bolstered by a burst of corporate deals and after signs of robust economic growth in China. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 81 points to 10,543. The S&P 500 Index climbed 10 points to 1,119. The Nasdaq Composite rose 22 points to 2,264. The strong China data is lifting commodities like Freeport McMoRan up 3.5%. Cleveland Cliffs is up 3%. On the deal front, HP is buying another firm, this time it's Arc Sight for $1.5 billion. Arc Sight is up 25% while even HP is modestly higher. HP can't seem to stop themselves from buying firms. Hertz is buying Dollar Thrifty for cash. Both stocks are up over 5%. The financials are acting great after the European banking regulations were not as stringent as feared. The financial index is up over 2%. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan are all up over 3%. Huntington Bancorp and Regions Financial are higher by 4% on upgrades. Visa and Mastercard are lower on downgrades. The techs are performing well. Xerox is jumping 7% on a positive cover piece in Barrons over the weekend. Nokia is up 3% on an upgrade. Salesforce.com is modestly higher on an upgrade. The Dow Transportation Averages is back near its' July highs. FedEx and JB Hunt are higher on upgrades. After the first hour the Dow rose 90 points. The Nasdaq improved by 34 points. So far so good. Through the morning the Nasdaq remained strong, but a number of Dow components started to pull back. In the afternoon, heading into the last hour the averages rebounded with the Dow jumping 60 points. The Nasdaq remained strong up 36 points. Alliance Data is jumping 3% after announcing a $400 million share buyback. Companies are starting to use their money buying stock, companies, but not hiring new employees. In the last hour the averages kept improving. September's been pretty good so far. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 81 points at 10,544 lifted by a 5.3% rise in shares of Microsoft. The firm said it is gearing up for the introduction of new wireless Internet networks on unused U.S. T.V. airwaves. The S&P 500 index rose 12 points, or 1.1%, to 1,121, with financials rising 2.3% and technology gaining 2.1%. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 43 points, or 1.9%, to 2,285.