posted 04-10-2001 06:16 PM         

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For all the pessimism that abounds about earnings season, investors seem to have welcomed it with open arms. The major indices gapped open this morning and never looked back. As Motorola (up 13% during regular trading) kicked earnings season off this afternoon, Wall Street seems hopeful that the worst is behind us and that companies will have a brighter outlook for the coming quarters. Whether the reports will back up this optimism will be interesting, to say the least. But, those concerns are for tomorrow and the upcoming weeks. Today was a wonderful day with broad-based buying and little negative news. The rally was led by the technology sector, especially the chip sector. The Nasdaq ended the day up 106 points, just off its highs, a gain of more than 6%. Importantly, the index also closed well above the 1800 point barrier. Not to be outdone, the Dow cleared a major barrier as well, closing above 10,000 points for the first time in nearly a month. The blue chip index ended the day with a 258-point gain.

Dow Jones Industrials: 10102.74 +257.59 +2.62%
Nasdaq Composite: 1852.03 +106.32 +6.09%
S&P 500: 1168.38 +30.79 +2.71%
30-year Treasury Bond: 5.622% +0.141

posted 04-09-2001 05:02 PM         

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It was a somewhat loopy day on Wall Street today. The markets opened in solid positive territory, following Amazon.com's announcement that earnings for the last quarter will exceed expectations by 8 cents. That announcement fueled a major rally in Internet issues, which propelled the Nasdaq upwards over 30 points (about 2%) by noon. The Dow decided to tag along for the ride, and so for much of the day the two indicators were enjoying something of a rally. Then around 2pm weakness in the chip sector curtailed the rally and dragged both indices back to the breakeven point, as investors started worrying anew about the slew of corporate earnings reports due out later this week. Remarkably, however, such concerns were shelved in the last hour of trading, and the markets rose once again. The Dow manged to squeeze out a 54.06 point gain, the Nasdaq ended the day up 25.36.

Dow Jones Industrials: 9845.15 +54.06 +0.55%
Nasdaq Composite: 1745.71 +25.35 +1.47%
S&P 500: 1137.59 +9.16 +0.81%
30-year Treasury Bond: 5.481% +0.025

posted 04-06-2001 06:03 PM         

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The big question was whether the market could see some follow-through buying from yesterday's huge rally, and the big answer was...NO. A shockingly-weak (even in this time of economic slowdown) unemployment report, followed by another set of tech earnings warnings, sent the major indices reeling at the open. And when a midday rally looked like it might help erase the losses, it fizzled about as soon as it began. Were it not for a bounce in the last 15 minutes or so of trading, it would have been a truly ugly day on the Street. As it is, the Nasdaq finished down 65 points (3.6%), the Dow closed down 127 (1.3%), and the S&P 500 dropped 23 (2.0%).

Dow Jones Industrials: 9791.09 -126.96 -1.28%
Nasdaq Composite: 1720.36 -64.64 -3.62%
S&P 500: 1128.43 -23.01 -2.00%
30-year Treasury Bond: 5.456% -0.065

posted 04-06-2001 09:53 AM         

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As bad as the previous several days has been, today was that good. Dell Computer (+14%) provided the catalyst last night by announcing that it expected to meet earnings estimates for the first quarter. That was basically all that investors needed to engage in bargain hunting. The Nasdaq and the Dow both started strong in the morning and really kept going up throughout the day. The Nasdaq was the big winner, up 146 points, nearly 9%, on the day. The battered chip sector benefited greatly from the Dell announcement. Yahoo also had a strong day after some positive analyst comments. Alcoa was a leader on the Dow after posting better-than-expected earnings this morning. The blue-chip index was nearly as impressive as the Nasdaq, gaining 403 points on the session.

Dow Jones Industrials: 9918.05 +402.63 +4.23%
Nasdaq Composite: 1785.00 +146.20 +8.92%
S&P 500: 1151.44 +48.19 +4.37%
30-year Treasury Bond: 5.521% +0.027

posted 03-30-2001 05:48 PM         

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The markets got off to a flaky start this morning and spent much of the day hesitating around the break even point, as investors remained tentative in the absence of any major corporate earnings reports. But eventually old economy issues were given a boost by positive economic reports regarding consumer confidence and consumer spending, and so the Dow finally managed to chalk up some significant gains around 2pm. The Nasdaq tagged along for the ride, mostly as a result of strength in the software sector, so both major indices ended the day in respectable positive territory. The Dow ended up 79.72 points while the Nasdaq edged higher by 19.69.

Dow Jones Industrials: 9878.78 +79.72 +0.81%
Nasdaq Composite: 1840.26 +19.69 +1.08%
S&P 500: 1160.33 +12.38 +1.08%
30-year Treasury Bond: 5.453% -0.011

posted 03-29-2001 06:04 PM         

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It was a jumpy session for the major US stock indices today, as a lack of any real market-moving news left investors without guidance in either direction. However, earnings warnings from a handful of low-visibility tech companies reminded investors that the corporate earnings picture remains ugly, and so, after jumping around breakeven in the morning, the Nasdaq fell from noon till the close, shedding 34 points (1.8%) on the day. The Dow spent much of the session bouncing around in positive territory, but hit a snag around 2:30pm and subsequently fell to session lows. The blue-chip index managed to pull itself together for a late rally, and finished the day up 13.7 points (0.1%). In tech sector action, chip, PC, and software issues were hit the hardest.

Dow Jones Industrials: 9799.06 +13.71 +0.14%
Nasdaq Composite: 1820.57 -33.56 -1.81%
S&P 500: 1147.95 -5.34 -0.46%
30-year Treasury Bond: 5.464% +0.009

posted 03-28-2001 06:37 PM         

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Things started out ugly for the markets this morning, and things just got worse from there. Profit warnings after the bell yesterday from Palm (-48%), Nortel (-17%), and Disney (-3%) sent the futures into the tank this morning, and the major indices opened well to the downside. From there, both the Dow and the Nasdaq spent the next three hours sinking deeper into the abyss. But, around noon they diverged. The blue chips showed some resilience, with the Dow bouncing off of its lows of more than 250 points in the red. It closed the day off 162 points. The only notable winners were drug and alcoholic beverage companies (insert your own joke here). While the Dow was recovering (slightly), the Nasdaq continued to be pummeled. It sank and sank before closing at session lows, down 118 points, or 6%. There really wasn't anything good to say about the Nasdaq. Breadth was terrible. At one point declining volume accounted for 95% of the total volume on the exchange. Tomorrow is another day…

Dow Jones Industrials: 9785.35 -162.19 -1.63%
Nasdaq Composite: 1854.13 -118.13 -5.99%
S&P 500: 1153.29 -28.88 -2.44%
30-year Treasury Bond: 5.464% +0.019

posted 03-28-2001 09:23 AM         

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It was an upbeat day on Wall Street today, as investors decided to put aside recent concerns about corporate earnings and the economy in order to focus on the positive news released today regarding consumer confidence. The Conference Board reported this morning that its consumer confidence index jumped significantly higher in February, reversing a five month downward trend and surprising analysts who had expected another decline. As soon as the markets got wind of the consumer report the major indices quickly moved from negative to positive territory and remained there for the rest of the day. The Dow ended up tacking on 260.01 points, while the Nasdaq posted a gain of 53.81.

Dow Jones Industrials: 9947.54 +260.01 +2.68%
Nasdaq Composite: 1972.26 +53.77 +2.80%
S&P 500: 1182.18 +29.49 +2.56%
30-year Treasury Bond: 5.445% +0.094

All times are EST (US)