The Week In Review
7/27-7/31/09
July 31, 2009U.S. stocks rose at the open Friday after the government said U.S. gross domestic production fell a not-as-bad-as-expected 1% in the second quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 46 points to 9,201. The S&P 500 index rose 4 points to 991, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 8 points to 1,992. The earnings season is winding down. In the tech sector, Hutchinson Tech and Netsuite are down 14% following disappointing earnings. McAfee and Rosetta Stone are up over 4% after beating estimates. The financials are quiet. Metlife is up 2% following solid earnings. GE and Bank of America keep creeping higher following upgrades earlier in the week. Other companies reporting earnings include Washington Post, Chevron, Dominion Resources, Auto Nation, First Solar, and Constellation Energy.
After the first hour, the averages remain in the green. Disney is bucking the trend in the Dow, falling 3.5%, after it posted mixed quarterly results. The Nasdaq is up 8 points. In the tech sector IBM, Google, Apple, and Research in Motion are higher. A resilent market. Through the morning and into the afternoon, the averages remained in the green, but not by much. Two stock quietly moving higher are Bank of America and GE. Both stocks were upgraded by Goldman Sachs this week. In the last hour, the averages rallied, then sold back off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its best monthly gain since 2002, rising 8.6%, and finished its best July since 1989. It gained 0.9% for the week and 17 points today to close at 9,172. The S&P 500 rose 7.4% for the month and 0.8% for the week. It ended Friday up 70 cents higher at 987. The Nasdaq Composite gained 7.8% for the month and 0.6% for the week. But it closed down 6 points at 1,979.
July 30, 2009
U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, receiving a boost amid another batch of better-than-expected earnings, including from credit-card giant MasterCard. In addition, a rise in jobless claims in the latest week was in line with expectations, soothing economic concerns a day ahead of U.S. growth figures for the previous quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to 91 points, or 1%, to 9,162, with 28 of its 30 components opening higher. Shares of General Electric are jumping 7%, after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. The S&P 500 index rose 11 points, or 1%, to 986, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 22 points, or 1%, to 1,990. A lot of stocks trading up following earnings. The insurance stocks like Hartford, Lincoln Financials, and Aflac are all up over 8% on earnings. Within the financials Mastercard, Visa, and Franklin Resources are higher following earnings. The techs are mixed. Flextronics, Akamai, Quality Systems, ADP, and Symantec are lower following earnings. Google and Amazon ae higher on upgrades. Yahoo is lower once again following that disappointing pact with Microsoft. In the retail sector Office Max, Cabelas, and Callaway are strong following earnings. Childrens Place is up 10% after the ex-CEO dropped his proxy fight against his former company. After the first half an hour, the Dow jumped 140 points while the Nasdaq rose 34 points. Other companies trading higher following earnings include Cigna, Tyco, Motorola, Apache, Mylan, Avon Products, IP, and Wynn Resorts. July has been very good to us. Through the morning the averages remained strong. Only three Dow components are trading lower. The S&P 500 nearly hit 1000 for the first time since the first week of November. It's been a good run. In the afternoon the averages remained strong, but off the highs of the day. The seven year Treasury auction went much better today than yesterdays two year auction which is good for the markets. In the last hour we finally saw some profit-taking. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83 points to close at 9,154, its highest close since early November. The S&P 500 index rose 11 points, or 1%, to 986, off an intraday high of 996, but also its highest close since early November. The Nasdaq Composite gained 14 points to 1,984, off a high of 2,009. The index hadn't crossed the 2,000 mark since October 3rd.
July 29, 2009
U.S. stocks open lower following a reported that orders for durable goods sank 2.5% in June, a much bigger drop than economists expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36 points to 9,059. The S&P 500 index fell 5 points to 973, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10 points to 1,965. The techs are in the news. Yahoo and Microsoft finally struck a deal to work together on their Internet search engines. Microsoft is higher, but Yahoo is down 10%. Google is also lower. Plantronics is up 9% on earnings. More earnings keep flooding in. The list of companies include Conoco Philips, Tidewater, Hospira, MeadWest Vaco, General Dynamic, Hess, Wyndham, Qwest, Sprint/Nextel, Norfolk Southern, Moodys, Wellpoint, Hertz, Tyco, Martha Stewart, and Daimler. Most of the stocks are lower. The phone companies are lower by over 2%. Wyndham is up 5%. Dreamworks is up 7% on better than expected earnings. After the first hour the averages remained in the red, but not by much. The financials are holding in there. Bank of America and Fifth Third Bank are higher thanks to positive comments over at Goldman Sachs. The commodities are in the red. Conoco and Hess are lower following earnings. Valero is down 4% on a downgrade. The averages remained quiet through the morning into the lunch hour. A higher than expected 2 year auction for Treasuries caused the averages to sell off. The averages rebounded then sold off once again when the Beige Book indicated continued economic weakness. In the last hour, similar to the last two days, the averages moved back toward the unchanged level. Resilient. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 26 points to 9,071. The S&P 500 declined 4 points to 975 points and the Nasdaq declined 7 points to 1967.
July 28, 2009
U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday, weighed down by energy and materials shares, with the market digesting data on home prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22 points to 9,084. The S&P 500 index fell 3 points to 979, while the Nasdaq Composite lost a point to 1,966. The retailers are mixed this morning. Coach and Office Depot are lower on disappointing earnings. Under Armour and Buffalo Wild Wing are up 4% on earnings while Callaway is up 4% on an upgrade. Gap and Radio Shack were also upgraded. The commodity space is lower. Valero, BP, CF Industries, and U.S. Steel are lower following earnings. The financials are mixed this morning. The big banks are modestly higher. GE is higher following a conference call regarding the modest improvement of business at GE Capital. Deutsche Bank is lower by 7% on a downgrade. Metlife is lower by 3% on a downgrade. The earnings this morning are coming in from Supervalu, Coventry Health, and Textron. All three are higher by at least 6%. After the first hour, the averages recovered, then sold back off. Through the morning the averages remained in the red. The healthcare stocks are bucking the trend. Yesterday Aetna was down pretty good on disappointing earnings, but today the stock is bouncing right back. Unitedhealth Group is up 5% and Coventry is up 10% following earnings. In the afternoon, the Nasdaq snuck into the green while the Dow crept back toward the unchanged level. The financials, or at least, the big banks remain in the green. In the last hour, the averages once again tried to get into the green, but only the Nasdaq succeeded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 11 points at 9,096. The S&P 500 index lost 2 points to 979, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 7 points to 1,975.
July 27, 2009
U.S. stocks wavered at Monday's start, as investors pondered disappointing earnings results from Aetna and Honeywell ahead of data on new home sales in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5 points to 9,088. The S&P 500 Index held near flat line at 978, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped a point to 1,965. More earnings keep flooding in. Aetna is down 4% while Honeywell is only down a percent. Corning, Lorillard, Tellabs, Verizon, and Radio Shack are all trading lower as well even though most have reported better than expected earnings. The financials are quiet this morning. Mastercard is higher due to a positive Barrons article. Capital One is unchanged even though they received an upgrade. At 10 o'clock, better than expected housing numbers sent the averages briefly into the green. In the tech sector, Amazon is lower by 3% on a downgrade following in line numbers last week. After the first hour the Dow was down 50 points. The Nasdaq declined 17 points. The markets are looking a little tired. Through the morning, the averages slowly recovered thanks in part to the financials moving into the green. A resilient market. In the afternoon, the averages remained quiet not far from the unchanged level with the financials still in the green. In the last hour the averages were able to sneak into the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 15 points to end at 8,108, extending to three days its current winning streak. The S&P 500 gained 2 points to 982, with the broad-market index finishing at its highest level since topping the 1,000-mark on Nov. 4th. The Nasdaq Composite rose a point to 1,967.