Monday, October 10, 2011

Stocks close with a rally...

Short covering ahead of the closing bell propelled stocks to daily highs.

Dow +330
Nas +86
S&P +39 to 1194

The Financials also closed at their highs. XLF closed +0.61 to 12.44 (5.16%)

So, here we are again, just below the 1200 level on the S&P.  Earnings season will start tomorrow.

General Dynamics awarded $65M Contract...

General Dynamics (GD) gains after one of its subsidiaries, C4 Systems, was awarded a $65M networking support contract by the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center to provide support, maintain and add new capabilities to the the Navy's Wideband Networking Waveform system.


GD is up 1.75 to 61.30 today

1:00 pm update...

Stocks holding their gains as sellers have clearly taken the day off.

Dow +280
Nas +75
S&P +33

Notable Movers:

Netflix opened up 12 is now -0.26 to 117.00
Apple +14.08 on high demand of new iPhone 4S
Amazon +6 to 230
Google +18 to 532
Chipotle +13 to 307

IBM: Best Stock on the Board....

IBM is breaking out to All-Time Highs today as buyers come into the market.

IBM is currently up 3.09 to 185.49

In a note today, Janney touts Big Blue's "safety, quality, and positive demand trends... proven business models, sticky revenue streams, outstanding balance sheets."

They report earnings next Monday.  Check out this weekly chart:


Financials strong today...

Financial stocks are surging, after weekend news that Germany and France have agreed to help strengthen European banks.

Morgan Stanley (MS) +1.00 to 15.24
JP Morgan (JPM) +1.31 to 32.01
Wells Fargo (WFC) +1.14 to 25.68
Bank of America (BAC) +0.34 to 6.24

Sprint gets downgraded...

Sprint (S) is down today after at least five firms downgrade the stock following Friday's brutal investor meeting. Analysts at Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Raymond James, Collins Stewart and Kaufman Bros. all point to management that continues to keep everyone guessing on earnings and cash needs.

Sprint is down 0.18 to 2.22 so far today. 

At 11:00 am....

Stocks continue to climb as banks and oil stocks join the fun.

Dow +262
Nas +75
S&P +32 to 1187

XLF is now up 0.46 to 12.29 (+3.80%)

Stocks flying on the open...

Dow +198
Nas +46
S&P +23 to 1178

The news from Europe is sparking buying across the board.  I think we also have some follow thru on the short covering ahead of U.S. corporate earnings season which starts tomorrow.  Let's keep an eye on the banks.  Banks need to start rebounding in order for a true market bottom to hold.  The Financial ETF is XLF.

XLF is currently up 0.36 to 12.20 (+3.09%)

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

These are some of this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.


Cabela’s Inc. (NYSE: CAB) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Hercules Tech Growth Capital (NASDAQ: HTGC) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE: MU) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc. (NYSE: MSM) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Raised to Neutral at Janney.
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE: THO) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Treehouse Foods Inc. (NYSE: THS) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

AT&T say iPhone pre-orders high...

AT&T (T) could be a stock to watch, after the company said it had 200,000 pre-orders for the newest iPhone in the first 12 hours it was available.

The company called it the most successful iPhone launch it's ever had.

We'll also watch shares of Sprint (S), which also says it had a successful iPhone launch, but whose stock was extremely volatile Friday as the company was holding an analyst meeting.  Sprint claims that it needs to raise more money to build out a 4G network.

Good Morning...

Monday is likely to get off to a bullish start, after Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy vowed that a comprehensive response to the European debt crisis would be finalized by month's end.

Wall Street is coming off a relatively calm day of modest losses Friday, with a streak of nine consecutive triple-digit moves by the Dow broken during that session.

The Dow had a second straight weekly gain for the first time since early July.

Today's action may be lighter than usual, with many businesses and the bond market closed for the Columbus Day holiday, and no government economic data on the agenda.