Posts Tagged ‘dow jones’

(Lee Siler) - The market ended the day mixed on moderate trade. Considering the major averages rallied two of the three previous days, I would chalk yesterday up as a victory. It's been a while since the Dow Jones gained more than 200 points two of three days...

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks dropped four straight sessions last week to end down around 2% among the major averages. Considering we've rallied for seven consecutive months, this two week pullback may look less ominous than it is. It's ironic that this pullback started just before we start 3rd quarter earnings season.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks have been struggling all week and barring a great day for the averages, we will be closing down on the week. What's more, the commerce department released the durable goods figures, which were less than economists had expected. Durable goods orders dropped 2.4% in August after increasing a revised 4.8% in July. Wall Street was expecting a gain of 0.5%. Stock futures were pointing to a slightly higher opening, until these numbers were released and are now looking to trade much lower.

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(Lee Siler) - Today the Fed starts their two-day meeting. The speculation is that the Fed will likely leave the Fed Funds Rate near 0% for a while longer. Obviously, inflation will be watched and combated when it starts to rear its ugly head.

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(Lee Siler) - A better than expected earnings report from Alcoa has stocks in Europe moving higher. This move is spilling over to the U.S., as stock futures are indicating a jump in prices. Although Alcoa reported its third consecutive quarterly loss, they did beat estimates by a large margin due to significant cost cutting.

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(Lee Siler) - A dismal jobs report on Thursday sent the market plunging before the 4th of July holiday weekend. The U.S. lost 467,000 jobs in June. That was more than expected and took the overall unemployment rate to 9.5%, the highest since 1983. Stocks dropped more than 2.5% across the board. At the same time the price of crude also tanked by more than 4%. A drop in crude prices should be conducive to an economic recovery, but it may also be a sign that the economy is still not on solid ground.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks continued their sell-off, as trading volume rises again. There is now some clear distribution going on in the major averages. Over the past two days we've seen the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 drop well over 3%. Even the leading stocks and sectors are starting to rollover.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks traded lower on the day, but the damage could've been much worse. Investors were concerned about the lack of interest in the U.S. Treasury auction. The government's ability to sell Treasury's is paramount to fund our national spending. These auctions have put pressure on the bonds and hence, have seen yields soar over the past month.

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(Lee Siler) - The market treaded water yesterday, but is selling off this morning. The ADP National Employment Report, which is a number that has been monitored lately, showed a decrease in jobs by 532,000. This was slightly less than expected, but still very negative none-the-less. Investors will be looking for the Labor Department's report on Friday, which will be crucial to the sentiment of the economy.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks rallied hard as the Nasdaq moved further above its 200-day moving average on news that Cisco Systems would replace GM in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. This was a broad based rally that moved the S&P 500 also above its respective 200-day moving average, which is a positive technical indicator. Still lagging, is the Dow Jones. However, the addition of Cisco and Travelers could help that index keep up with its peers.

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