The Week In Review
2/14-2/18/11
February 18, 2011U.S. stocks opened unchanged as many investors were reluctant to make big moves ahead of the long holiday weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 3 points to 13315. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped a point to 1,339. The Nasdaq Composite gained a fraction to 2,831. The earnings keep coming in better than expected. Red Robin is up 13% thanks to better than expected earnings. The restaurant stocks have been on fire. In the retail space Nordstrom is jumping 2% thanks to earnings and an upgrade. However the rest of the retails are lower or unchanged. In the tech sector Brocade and Intuit are jumping over 7% following earnings. The techs look good except for Apple once again. The Nasdaq is going to have a tough time rallying without Apple. The commodities are weak. Earnings from the fertilizer maker CF Industries is not lending support. CF is down 5% while the rest of the potash makers down 2 to 3%. Cliffs Natural Resources had an upgrade this morning, but the stock is lower after rising 8% yesterday following earnings. The financials for the most part are lower except for a few like Goldman Sachs. Genworth is higher on takeover rumors. After the first hour the Dow rallied, but the Nasdaq is struggling. Through the morning the Dow kept improving making new highs for the year led by Boeing, Caterpillar, Chevron, and Walmart. The Nasdaq is struggling due to the weakness in Apple. In the last hour the Dow spiked into the close dragging the Nasdaq into the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Friday's session up 73 points to 12,391 and advanced 1% for the week. The S&P 500 gained 2 points to 1,343, rallying a percent for the week. The Nasdaq Composite added 2 points to 2,833. The Dow and S&P 500 closed at mid-2008 highs, while the Nasdaq is at an October 2007 high.
February 17, 2011
U.S. stocks opened lower on Thursday after economic data had both the cost of living and the count of weekly filings for unemployment benefits rising more than anticipated. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31 points to 12,256. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 4 points to 1,331. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 8 points to 2,817. The earnings keep coming in better than expected. Weight Watchers is jumping 43%, Nvidia is up 10%, Williams Company is up 11%, Cabelas is up 13%, and Cliffs Natural Resources is up just 8% following earnings. The retail space is on fire. Deckers Outdoor is up 7% on no news. Not bad. JM Smuckers and Dr. Pepper Snapple are up over 4% following earnings. Skechers and Liz Claiborne are lower following earnings. The techs look good except for Apple which is lower on rumors Steve Job's health is not improving. The after the first hour the averages moved back toward the unchanged level. Resilient market. The financials are quiet this morning not participating in the rally. Huntington Banc is lower on a downgrade. Most commodities other than Cliffs Natural Resources are not reacting much. The oil drillers continue to improve as money rotates into that sector. By the lunch hour the averages rallied into the green. In the afternoon the Dow rose 30 points thanks to Coke, Dupont, and Intel. Coke hiked their dividend this morning. The techs look good thanks in part to the chips. The largest component, Apple is still trading lower. The financials are one of the few sectors trading lower. In the last hour the averages held on to their gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 29 points at 12,318, led by a 1.8% rally in Coke. The S&P 500 rose 4 points to 1,340. The Nasdaq Composite ended up 6 points to 2,831.
February 16, 2011
U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday with sentiment lifted by corporate deal activity and better than expected earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 31 points to 12,257. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 5 points to 1,333. The Nasdaq Composite rose 13 points to 2,817. The diamond of the day goes to Family Dollar jumping 26% after receiving a private equity takeover offer. Gap and Clorox are higher on upgrades. La-Z-Boy is jumping 13% following earnings. Martha Stewart, Owens Corning, and PF Chang are higher following earnings. To the downside, Dean Foods and Office Max are lower following earnings. In the tech sector Dell looks good following better than expected earnings. Hewlett Packard is higher in sympathy and due to an upgrade. Qualcomm and Research in Motion are higher on upgrades. Analyst made positive comments about Google, but the stock is modestly lower. Analog Devices is down 2% following better than expected earnings. The commodity space is higher. Deere is jumping 3% as earnings double. In the financial space JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs look good, but the rest of the sector is quiet. Wells Fargo is lower. Eaton is modestly higher on earnings, but Donaldson and ING are modestly lower on earnings. CIT Group is lower on a downgrade. Other companies trading higher on earnings include Comcast and Sprint/Nextel. Reynolds American is higher after lifting their dividend. After the first half an hour the averages remained strong with the Dow rising 50 points and the Nasdaq rising 12 points. Can't keep this market down. Through the morning the averages powered higher with the Dow rallying 70 points and the Nasdaq improving by 24 points. Both are at new highs for the year. The S&P 500 rose to 1337 a new high for the year and officially up 100% from the March 2009 lows. What a run. During the lunch hour the averages momentarily gave up their gains as Iran sails one of their ships through the Suez Canal. The sell off didn't last. Nothing can keep this market down. In the last hour the averages moved back toward the highs of the day. Resilient, resilient, resilient. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 52 points to 12,279. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 6 points to 1,334. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 18 points to 2,822.
February 15, 2011
U.S. stocks dipped at Tuesday's start after economic reports had retail sales climbing less than expected in January and the cost of imported goods on the rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 51 points to 12,216. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 4 points to 1,327. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 9 points to 2,807. The retailers are lower for the most part. Gap is jumping 5% after Eddie Lampert disclosed a stake in the firm. Netflix is lower on a downgrade. Stanley Black & Decker is up a percent after hiking their dividend. Marriott International is higher after reporting earnings. The commodities are lower after a great day yesterday. Devon Energy and US Steel are lower even though they were upgraded. Exxon increased their oil reserves, but the stock is lower. FedEx is actually higher after lowering guidance last night. Go figure. The techs in general are trading lower. Apple almost touched a new higher, before pulling back. Analog Devices and Salesforce.com are modestly higher on upgrades. The best performing sector so far this morning is the financials. JP Morgan is higher thanks to a positive shareholder meeting this morning. Wells Fargo is also higher. Stifel Financial is jumping 7% after easily beating estimates. Fifth Third and Goldman Sachs are modestly higher thanks to positive analyst comments. NYSE Euronext is lower after agreeing to be bought out by German Deutsche Boerse Exchange. After the first hour the averages remained in the red right where they started the day. Through the morning the averages slowly improved led by the financials. In the afternoon the averages sold back off to the opening lows. A few financials are in the green, but that's about it.
February 14, 2011
U.S. stocks opened mostly lower on Monday after two weeks of gains, with investors waiting for the president's budget proposal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 25 points to 12,247. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped a point to 1,328. The Nasdaq Composite added 2 points to 2,811. The broader market is quiet, but the commodity space looks great. News that China is importing more than expected has the fertilizers trading up, the steels are perking up, Cliff Natural Resources is jumping 5% while Freeport is up 4%. Transocean is up 2% on an upgrade. In the tech space, plenty of upgrades. Micron, Broadcom, and Nvidia are all trading higher on upgrades. HP is lower even though it was upgraded. Nokia continues to plunge lower after announcing plans last week to create a joint venture with Microsoft. The financials are quiet this morning. GE is modestly higher after making an acquisition. After the first hour the Dow remained stuck in the red while the Nasdaq is modestly higher. Within the Dow only the commodities like Alcoa, Chevron, and Exxon look good. Walmart is lower on a downgrade. Through the morning not much changed. Commodities remain the best performing sector. In the afternoon the averages improved with the Dow down only single digits and the Nasdaq up single digits. The financials are in the green. The commodities look great. In the last hour all the major averages moved into the green, but didn't finish in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 5 points at 12,268, paced by a 1.4% drop in Walmart. The S&P 500 ended up 3 points at 1,332, led by the commodity space. The Nasdaq Composite gained 7 points to 2,817.