Day Traders Diary

8/24/09

U.S. stocks on Monday started higher, extending gains into a fifth day, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other central bankers around the globe bolstered optimism on the economic recovery. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47 points to 9,553. The S&P 500 Index added 6 points to 1,032. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 6 points to 2,027. The amazing run keeps going. The financials keep pushing higher even as analysts keep making cautious comments. Dick Bove expects another 150 to 200 banks to fail in the next year, but the market doesn't seem too concerned. Capital One and American Express are both up over 2% on upgrades. Citigroup and Bank of America are both trading at new highs for the year. The techs are performing well. Dell is up 3% on an upgrade. AMD is up 8% on an upgrade. Google, Apple, IBM, and Microsoft are higher as well. The retail space is mixed. Sears is down 2% on a negative article in Barrons. Chicos and American Eagle are lower even though they were upgraded. Black & Decker and Guess are higher on upgrades. The diamond of the day goes to Charlotte Russe up 25% on a private equity take over. After the first hour the averages pushed higher led by the financials. Through the morning the averages remained strong, but off their highs. In the afternoon, the rally unraveled with the major averages giving up all their gains. But no major sell off. Everyone expects a correction, but nothing yet. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3 points to close at 9,509. The S&P 500 Index fell fractionally to 1,025, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 2 points to 2,017.

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.