Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Holy bull!
Holy bull!
RTGAM
Investors who believe that the North American stocks are merely caught up in a bear market rally, taking a temporary breather from their long-term decline, must have felt a peculiar pain in their stomachs on Thursday: For the second day running, major indexes shrugged off midday jitters to post sizable gains in the afternoon, raising eyebrows as they blew past technical hurdles.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 7924.56, up 174.75 points, or 2.3 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 832.86, up 18.98 points, or 2.3 per cent. The index has now risen nearly 25 per cent from its intraday low in early March, hinting at a new bull market. As well, the index has risen well above its 50-day moving average, once seen as a point of resistance. Meanwhile, the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index surged 3.8 per cent, putting it up for the year by 0.6 per cent.
The latest moves came as investors grew increasingly confident that the U.S. economy is showing tentative signs of bottoming out, despite yet another nasty report on weekly jobless claims.
On Thursday, better-than-expected quarterly results from Best Buy Co. Inc. added to the impression that consumer spending isn't dead. As well, a government bond auction went according to plan, easing concerns that arose on Wednesday when bonds were sold at higher-than-expected yields, suggesting that the market's appetite for government debt was waning.
The rally was widespread: 28 of the 30 stocks in the Dow rose, as did 87 per cent of the stocks in the S&P 500.
Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., which had enjoyed outsized gains in much of the recent trading activity, were left on the sidelines on Thursday, falling 1.6 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.
Still, many of the big movers appeared to signify more confidence in companies that stand to benefit from an improving economy. General Motors Corp. rose 14.1 per cent, American Express Co. rose 7.2 per cent, Hewlett-Packard Co. rose 7.1 per cent and Caterpillar Inc. rose 6.5 per cent.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 8995.50, up 198.06 points, or 2.3 per cent - putting the benchmark index up for the year, by about 0.1 per cent, after being under water since January. Financials did okay, with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce up 1.2 per cent and Toronto-Dominion Bank up 0.8 per cent.
However, the real stars of the day were companies that tend to be more economically cyclical. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. led the way, rising 7.3 per cent. Canadian National Railway Co. rose 7 per cent, Research In Motion Ltd. rose 5.9 per cent and Suncor Energy Inc. rose 5.2 per cent.
Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Another day, another whipsaw
TLM After Hours HUGE Trades Ready To Run Thru $14.00 on the way to $18.00
What an hour
RTGAM
Another day, another whipsaw.
U.S. stocks emerged in positive territory on Wednesday after a remarkable retreat in afternoon trading sent major indexes down 4 per cent from their intraday highs before recovering in the final hour of trading. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 7749.81, up 89.84 points, or 1.2 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 813.88, up 7.63 points, or 1 per cent.
Both indexes began the day strongly, with investors feeling upbeat about the better-than-expected rise in new-home sales and durable goods orders for February - interpreting both moves as early signs that the deterioration in the U.S. economy could be bottoming out.
However, investors were taken aback by a disappointing Treasuries auction, which saw five-year notes sold at lower prices - or higher yields - than expected, which fed doubts about the U.S. Federal Reserve's determination to bring down borrowing costs using so-called quantitative easing.
Those concerns eased in the late afternoon, sending stocks up again but nowhere near their highs earlier in the day. U.S. home building stocks surged nearly 14 per cent in the morning, after a report showed that new-homes sales rose 4.7 per cent, month-over-month, in February even as they remained near record lows. However, the stocks surrendered most of those gains by the afternoon, ending the day up 3.1 per cent.
Among financials, Bank of America Corp. rose 6.7 per cent, despite receiving a credit downgrade on its preferred shares to junk status. JPMorgan rose 8.2 per cent but Citigroup Inc. fell 2 per cent.
In other moves, McDonald's Corp. rose 2.7 per cent and Boeing Co. rose 2.7 per cent. General Motors Corp. fell 6.6 per cent.
In Canada, the benchmark index never fully recovered from its afternoon selloff. The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 8797.44, down 51.95 points, or 0.6 per cent - down 185 points from its intraday high.
Research In Motion Ltd. fell 4.4 per cent after the BlackBerry maker was downgraded to an "underweight" recommendation by an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., who argued that the recession will slow subscriber growth over the next 18 months.
Financials were mixed. Manulife Financial Corp. fell 3.6 per cent and Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.8 per cent, but Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 0.3 per cent.
Energy stocks fell after the price of crude oil dipped to $52.77 (U.S.) a barrel, down $1.21. Suncor Energy Inc. fell 0.3 per cent and EnCana Corp. fell 2.5 per cent. Gold producers were strong, after the price of gold rose to $935.80 an ounce, up $12. Goldcorp Inc. rose 3.2 per cent and Barrick Gold Corp. rose 2.4 per cent.
Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail
RTGAM
Another day, another whipsaw.
U.S. stocks emerged in positive territory on Wednesday after a remarkable retreat in afternoon trading sent major indexes down 4 per cent from their intraday highs before recovering in the final hour of trading. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 7749.81, up 89.84 points, or 1.2 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 813.88, up 7.63 points, or 1 per cent.
Both indexes began the day strongly, with investors feeling upbeat about the better-than-expected rise in new-home sales and durable goods orders for February - interpreting both moves as early signs that the deterioration in the U.S. economy could be bottoming out.
However, investors were taken aback by a disappointing Treasuries auction, which saw five-year notes sold at lower prices - or higher yields - than expected, which fed doubts about the U.S. Federal Reserve's determination to bring down borrowing costs using so-called quantitative easing.
Those concerns eased in the late afternoon, sending stocks up again but nowhere near their highs earlier in the day. U.S. home building stocks surged nearly 14 per cent in the morning, after a report showed that new-homes sales rose 4.7 per cent, month-over-month, in February even as they remained near record lows. However, the stocks surrendered most of those gains by the afternoon, ending the day up 3.1 per cent.
Among financials, Bank of America Corp. rose 6.7 per cent, despite receiving a credit downgrade on its preferred shares to junk status. JPMorgan rose 8.2 per cent but Citigroup Inc. fell 2 per cent.
In other moves, McDonald's Corp. rose 2.7 per cent and Boeing Co. rose 2.7 per cent. General Motors Corp. fell 6.6 per cent.
In Canada, the benchmark index never fully recovered from its afternoon selloff. The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 8797.44, down 51.95 points, or 0.6 per cent - down 185 points from its intraday high.
Research In Motion Ltd. fell 4.4 per cent after the BlackBerry maker was downgraded to an "underweight" recommendation by an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., who argued that the recession will slow subscriber growth over the next 18 months.
Financials were mixed. Manulife Financial Corp. fell 3.6 per cent and Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.8 per cent, but Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 0.3 per cent.
Energy stocks fell after the price of crude oil dipped to $52.77 (U.S.) a barrel, down $1.21. Suncor Energy Inc. fell 0.3 per cent and EnCana Corp. fell 2.5 per cent. Gold producers were strong, after the price of gold rose to $935.80 an ounce, up $12. Goldcorp Inc. rose 3.2 per cent and Barrick Gold Corp. rose 2.4 per cent.
Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail
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