The Week In Review
6/4-6/8/12
June 8, 2012U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday as economic reports from Europe furthered concern about the global economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44 points to 12,416. The S&P 500 declined 5 points to 1,309. The Nasdaq Composite shed 12 points to 2,818. A quiet day to end the week. Everything is under a little bit of pressure, but no heavy selling. In the retail space, McDonalds is lower following disappointing May same store sales. Nordstrom is higher by 2% on an upgrade. Walmart looks great up 2% to a new all-time high. The financials are struggling this morning. Suntrust and Pulte Group are modestly higher on upgrades. After the open the averages slowly improved. The techs are showing some life. Google, Apple, Intel, and Microsoft look good. Even Facebook is displaying strength today. Altera is higher even though it was downgraded. Yahoo is higher on an upgrade. The industrials, materials, telecom, and consumer staples are showing some life. The energy space is still under pressure. Chevron is lower even though it was downgraded. Kinder Morgan is modestly higher on an upgrade. Molycorp is lower on news of a shelf offering. Through the first hour the averages recovered most of their losses. Through the morning the averages moved into the green on light volume. Pretty much a quiet day. In the afternoon the averages crept slowly higher with the Dow rising 80 points and the Nasdaq improving by 22 points. Apple is a standout in the Nasdaq while Walmart is a standout in the Dow. In the last hour the averages pushed higher to finish out a great week. The Dow Jones Industrial rose 93 points to 12,554, giving it a weekly rise of 3.6%. The S&P 500 Index climbed 10 points to 1,325, leaving it 3.7% higher for the week. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 27 points, or 1%, to 2,858, up 4% from the week-ago close.
June 7, 2012
U.S. stocks opened with strong gains Thursday after China cut interest rates for the first time since 2008, furthering hope for additional moves by global central banks, including the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 122 points, or 1%, to 12,537. The S&P 500 climbed 12 points, or 1%, to 1,327. The Nasdaq Composite added 23 points, or 0.8%, to 2,868. The best day of the year is followed by another great start to the day. Everything looks good once again. Energy, materials, and industrials are leading the way once again. Kodiak Oil & Gas is jumping 4% on an upgrade. The big oil companies are higher. Halliburton is unchanged on a downgrade. Agrium is up a percent after hiking their dividend. Gold miner, Newmont Mining is lower once again even though the stock has held up well in the previous weeks. The financials look good thing morning. M&T Bank, Regions Financial, and Keycorp are higher on upgrades. Pulte Group is up 4% following earnings yesterday and an upgrade today. REIT, Northstar Realty firm is down 4% on a stock offering. The best performing sector this year, retail, is under pressure for a second straight day. Yesterday it was the mattress companies. Today it's apparel makers. Lululemon is down 8% on earnings while Men' Wearhouse is down 15% following earnings. Under Armour is down in sympathy. Tempur Pedic is down once again on a downgrade. JM Smuckers is higher on an upgrade. After the open the averages slowly gave up some of their gains before Fed Chairman Bernanke spoke. The financials and techs are giving up some of their gains. Once the Fed Chairman spoke the averages rebounded only to give up the gains once again. Through the morning the Nasdaq gave up its' gains as Google and a number of big cap techs fell into the red. The Dow is still higher by 80 points even as a number of the financials fell into the red. The other sectors are holding up much better. In the afternoon the Dow continued to perform well with the Nasdaq hovering just above the unchanged level. In the last hour the rally fizzled with the Nasdaq falling into the red. "The strength yesterday in equity markets is not sustainable, with Europe still in trouble and global growth still slowing," said Jim Russell, chief equity strategist for U.S. Bank Wealth Management. After a 140-point rise, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 46 points at 12,460, or 0.4%. Snapping a three-session winning run, the S&P 500 lost a fraction to end at 1,314. The Nasdaq Composite shed 13 points to 2,831.
June 6, 2012
U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Wednesday, lifting the Dow Jones Industrial Average back into positive territory for the year, as pressure mounted on policy makers to come up with additional stimulus. The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate at 1% and ECB President Mario Draghi told a news conference in Frankfurt that the euro-area's recovery was expected to come gradually. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 112 points to 12,240. The S&P 500 Index climbed 12 points, or 1%, to 1,298. The Nasdaq Composite rose 32 points, or 1.2%, to 2,810. Finally, we're getting a nice rebound. The analyst community has come out of hiding to recommend a few stocks. The weakest sectors like energy, industrials, and materials are seeing the best rebound. Lee Enterprises is jumping 26% on news Berkshire Hathaway made an investment. Monsanto is jumping 2% on news the company is initiating a share buyback. Hess is higher by 3% on an upgrade. Chesapeake Energy jumping 4% on an upgrade. In the housing market, Pulte Group is jumping 6% on an upgrade. Financials are also catching a bid. Morgan Stanley is jumping 4% on news they are considering selling their commodity unit. Mastercard is higher on a share buyback. The retail sector is mixed this morning. Apparel maker, Oxford Industries is jumping 10% on earnings. Iron Mountain is jumping 10% on news the company is planning on converting to a REIT. Ancestory.com is jumping 11% on news they are out to a takeover. Vail Resorts is up 3% on earnings. Dicks is jumping 5% on an upgrade. Home Depot is higher on an upgrade. To the downside, Temper-Pedic is the dog of the day down 43% after lowering guidance. Mattress Firm Holding is down 17% on disappointing earnings. I guess no one is buying mattresses anymore. Bob Evans is down 5% following earnings. Sherwin Williams is down on a downgrade. Through the first hour the Dow shot higher up 150 points now back into positive territory for the year. The Nasdaq rose 43 points. This was the rally we're looking for yesterday. The Dow is looking for its first 200 point up day since March and first back to back positive days since April. That shows you how bad May was. Through the morning into the lunch hour the averages kept improving ahead of the Beige minutes out later today. Energy is leading the way along with materials and industrials. This started as a short covering rally, but now it looks like real investors are stepping in. How long will it last? We'll see. In the afternoon the oils pulled back as Halliburton preannounced due to higher costs associated to drilling. A number of stocks have pulled back, but the major averages remain near the highs of the day. In the last hour the averages remained strong with only a few stocks left in the green including the mattress stocks, Halliburton, and Bob Evans. Everything else looks pretty good. Heading into the close the averages pushed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 286 points, or 2.4%, at 12,414, its' best day of the year. The S&P 500 Index advanced 29 points, or 2.3%, to 1,315, it's best day of the year. The Nasdaq Composite added 66 points, or 2.4%, to 2,844.
June 5, 2012
U.S. stocks opened modestly lower Tuesday, with the Dow industrials extending losses into a fifth session, after finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized powers conferred by phone. The telephone session comes ahead of a European Central Bank policy meeting Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10 points to 12,091. The S&P 500 Index declined a point to 1,276. The Nasdaq Composite shed 2 points to 2,757. All eyes are on Europe. Over here, the news front is quite. On the earnings front, Dollar General reported better than expected earnings and received an upgrade yet the stock is lower. Starbucks is lower on news they are making an acquisition in the bakery business to expand into offering more food. Green Mountain Coffee and Panera Bread are lower on this Starbucks news. After the open, better than expected economic data lifted the averages out of the red. The techs and financials are performing well. Ironically, Google and Apple are struggling. Brocade is down 6% on a downgrade. IBM, HP, Intel, and Microsoft look good. Marvell and Fusion-IO are higher on upgrades. Facebook is higher even though recent survey indicates 80% of Facebook users never click on an ad. The beaten down sector energy and industrials are trying to rally this morning. Material company, Joy Global is higher on comments the company would make a good acquisition target. Hess and Monsanto also look good. Money is coming out of the defensive sectors like utilities, consumer staples, and healthcare. After the first hour the averages remained in the green with the Dow up 25 points and the Nasdaq up 15 points. We're due for a bounce, but so far the rebound has been anemic. Through the morning the averages gave up most of their gains. The Dow fell into the red while the Nasdaq is holding up even as Google and Apple push lower. In the afternoon the averages battled back, fighting to stay in the green. The financials, energy, materials, and consumer discretionary are hold up today which is good. In the last hour the averages fought to stay in the green. The Dow Jones finished up 26 points to 12,127. The S&P 500 added 7 points to 1,285. The Nasdaq Composite gained 18 points to 2,778.
June 4, 2012
U.S. stocks nosed higher to start Monday trading, getting a lift from reports European leaders were moving closer to some sort of bailout for Spain's fragile banking system, but hemmed in by weak Chinese services sector activity and Friday's disappointing U.S. jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose15 points to 12,135. The S&P 500 gained 3 points to 1,282. The Nasdaq Composite rose 20 points to 2,767. Friday's 2.5% decline was the worst start to the month of June. Not much of a bounce today. The news is quiet as many analysts and investors seem to be paralyzed on what to do. Only a few stocks are in the green. In the retail space Under Armour and Nike are modestly higher. Amazon was downgraded, but the stock is modestly higher. Lowes and Home Depot are modestly higher. Macy's is lower on a downgrade. The consumer staples, utilities, and healthcare space are holding up as defensive plays. The techs are struggling to hold up today. IBM and Apple are lower, but Google, Intel, and Microsoft are modestly higher. Salesforce.com is down 2% after making a small acquisition over the weekend. Facebook made a new 52 week low. The financials are also struggling to stay in the green. The insurance and credit card stocks are modestly higher, but the big banks have fallen into the red. Bank of America, SunTrust, and Charles Schwab were upgraded, but all three are lower. The energy space is moving lower once again. Pioneer Natural Resources was upgraded, but the stock is lower by 3%. After the open, the averages moved lower. Weaker than expected manufacturing numbers sent the averages lower. The Dow fell 50 points before rebounding. The Nasdaq fell a quick 20 points before rebounding into the green. Through the morning fewer and fewer stocks remained in the green. A quiet day so far. During the lunch hour the averages pushed lower on news out of Europe indicating there is no near term fix for the banks. Thanks for nothing. The Dow fell as much as 80 points before rebounding. The Nasdaq is holding up better. Through the afternoon the averages kept slowly improving accelerating into the green into the last hour. However, in the last hour the averages gave up their gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 17 points at 12,101, led by a 2.9% drop in J.P. Morgan. The S&P 500 eked out a minor gain, added 14 cents to 1,278. The Nasdaq Composite rose 12 points to 2,760.