Day Traders Diary

8/18/10

U.S. stocks opened lower Wednesday, with energy companies leading the retreat after an unexpected rise in U.S. supply had crude-oil futures lapsing under $75 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 40 points to 10,364. The S&P 500 Index shed 4 points to 1,088. The Nasdaq Composite declined 11 points to 2,198. For a second time this week, the averages drop sharply on the open only to claw their way back. A number of stocks are trading lower following earnings including Bob Evans, Eaton Vance, Target, BJs, and Deere. Chico's is jumping 7% on in-line earnings. Analog Devices is up 3% after beating earnings estimates. In the tech sector Salesforce.com and Amazon are higher on upgrades. The financials are quiet this morning. The commodities are quiet except for Potash which is up 2.6% on hopes that BHP raises their takeover target. After the first hour the averages remain in the red with the Dow down 40 points and the Nasdaq down 2 points. Through the morning, the averages slowly improved, moving into the green during the lunch hour. In the afternoon the Dow rose 50 points. The Nasdaq rose 16 points. The rally, while slow, is broad based with pretty much everything moving into the green. In the tech sector Google is lower after data indicated they lost some market share. The broader market actually pulled back in the last hour. The first hour and the last hour have not been kind to the markets as of late. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 9 points at 10,415. The S&P 500 gained a point to 1,094. The Nasdaq Composite added 6 points to 2,215 points.

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