Day Traders Diary
6/1/12
U.S. stocks started with more than 1% losses on Friday after a report estimating far lower-than-expected jobs growth in May, following weak Europe and Chinese manufacturing data, added to concerns about global growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 142 points, or 1.2%, to 12,256, with all but one component lower. The index is trading nearly flat for the year. The S&P 500 lost 17 points, or 1.3%, to 1,294. All 10 sectors were lower, led by energy. The Nasdaq Composite fell 39 points or 1.4% to 2,787. The economic is getting worse everywhere in the World. The weakness is being felt in every sector. Industrials, financials and energy are getting hit. Surprisingly, a number of materials and commodities are higher. Gold is surging as the commodity becomes a safe haven once again. Gold miner, Newmont Mining is jumping 5%, the best performer by far in the material space. Silver is higher as well. Copper is modestly lower, but Freeport is actually modestly higher. Is the stock oversold? Hopefully. In the tech space Groupon is down 9% as their lockup for insiders has expired. Is this what's next for Facebook? That stock is down 6%. VMware and Ciena were upgraded, but both stocks are lower by 2%. The retail space has held in there, but is lower today. TJX, Lululemon, and Nordstrom are lower on upgrades. Sara Lee is lower even though they are spinning off their International coffee and tea division. The financials are taking a hit. Franklin Resources is lower on a downgrade. Blackrock is lower on an upgrade. The diamond of the day goes to local firm, Beacon Federal up 45% on a takeover from Berkshire Hills Bancorp. Through the first hour the averages pushed lower. Better than expected manufacturing data out at 10 o'clock did little to support the market. Through the morning the averages remained weak with the Dow dropping 200 points and the Nasdaq falling 60 points. Not a lot of good news out there. Through the morning and into the afternoon the averages moved sideways near the lows. No bounces today. In the middle of the afternoon oil closed, down 8% for the week. Wow. By late afternoon the averages started moving even lower. In the last hour the Dow almost fell 300 points wiping out all the gains for the year. The Nasdaq is doing even worse down over 70 points. Not many shorts getting covered into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 274 points, or 2.2%, at 12,118. It's down 2.7% for the week and 0.8% for the year. The S&P 500 lost 32 points, or 2.5%, to 1,278. It's now 10% down from a closing, 52-week high reached April 2. It fell 3% in the past week. The Nasdaq Composite lost 79 points, or 2.8%, to 2,747, down 3.2% for the week.All comments contained herein are for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell any security. The firm does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information or make any warranties regarding results from it's usage.