Day Traders Diary

8/10/12

U.S. stocks began lower on Friday, denting weekly gains and the S&P 500 index's five-session winning streak. "We're just reacting to China data," Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said of disappointing Chinese trade data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 64 points to 13,100. The S&P 500 index shed 7 points to 1,395. The Nasdaq Composite lost 11 points to 3,007. A quiet day to end a quiet week. On the earnings front, JCPenney is jumping 6% even though earnings were not spectacular. The stock is still down 40% from the February highs. Nordstrom and Lions Gate are also higher on earnings. Monster Beverage is down 9% after receiving a subpoena for improper advertising and promotions of their soda beverages. In the tech space, Fusion-IO is jumping 29% on better than expected earnings. Rivals, Seagate and Western Digital are higher as well, but the rest of the tech sector is quiet. Nvidia is only modestly higher on earnings and an upgrade. Facebook is higher by 3% thanks to a director buying a million dollars' worth of stock although the company does have a lock up pending soon for other insiders to sell. Through the first hour the averages battled back as they have done all summer long. Following the first hour the averages remain in the red, but not far from the unchanged level. A quiet rainy morning. First one in a long time. In the afternoon more of the same. The averages slowly improved as stocks caught a bid. The technicals are looking better and better for the markets. In the last hour the averages moved into the green to finish out another good week. The Dow average ended up 42 points to 13,207. It rose 0.9% for the week. The S&P 500 gained 3 points to 1,405, up 1.1% for the week. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2 points to 3,020, rising 1.8% for the week.

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