Day Traders Diary

8/11/11

U.S. stocks leapt at Thursday's start after a surprising fall in jobless claims curbed worries about the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 164 points to 10,884. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 17 points to 1,138. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 52 points to 2,433. On the earnings front, Cisco Systems is leading the charge up 14% following better than expected earnings. The techs in general look pretty good. Apple is once again the largest market cap company in the U.S.. Other companies trading up following earnings include News Corp, Advance Auto, Jack in the Box, Wendys, Manulife, and Brinker. Stocks trading lower following earnings include Soda Stream and Briggs Stratton. With the recent pullback, more and more insiders are buying their stocks. The list includes UAL, Rambus, Mylan Labs, GM, Corning, AK Steel, and SM Energy. All seven are trading higher. Through the morning, every dip was met by more buying. That's a good sign. The commodities are performing well this morning except for gold. The CME Exchange is raising margin requirements for gold and silver traders sending those commodities lower. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages kept rising up 200 points, then 300 points back above 11000 for the year. Didn't think that would sound so good. Very few stocks are in the red. The dog of the day goes to the recent highflyer Soda Stream down 35% following disappointing earnings. Heading into the last hour the Dow rose as much as 400 points. In the last hour the Dow actually rallied over 500 points to get back everything we lost yesterday, only to drop 100 points into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 423 points, or 4%, at 11,143, with all 30 components up. First time in history, the Dow closed up or down 400 points in four consecutive days. The S&P 500 ended up 51 points, or 4.6%, at 1,172. The Nasdaq Composite gained 111 points, or 4.7%, to 2,492. Crazy market

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