Evidence Mounting?
The
bulls had no hope today as trading went south off the opening bell
and never looked back, as the Nasdaq clocked in it worst losing day of the year.
The airline index, the lone component in the plus column, with gold leading the
negative action, and technology issues not too far behind.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed down 1.61%Â to
9,743.83.
The S&P 500
(
$SPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed down 1.95%
to 1,082.63.
The Nasdaq [$COMPQ |$COMPQ] closed down
3.07% to
1749.85.
This shortened trading week has
begun on thin volume amidst continued fears over accounting issues and a better-than-expected
housing starts number. Housing starts came in at 1.678 million for a 6.3%
increase, better than the 1.6 million expected. This data adds to evidence that
our economy is on the mend.
Overall
NYSE volume was 1,179,913,000.
NYSE advancing issues were 1,015,
with up volume at 197,070,000;
declining issues were 2,120,
with down volume at 968,947,000.
Overall Nasdaq volume was 1,731,672,000.
Nasdaq advancing issues were 1,049,
with up volume at 160,964,000;
declining issues were 2,506
with
down volume at 1,556,645,000.The
VIX
was up 2.07 to 26.16. The TRIN
was up 0.44 to 2.35.
Low volume on this big losing
day saw the Dow and S&P 500 sink below its 20-day MA, and the Nasdaq gap
down below prior support. The Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down
3.56%, closed well below its 50 and 200-day MAs. The Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 4.22%, fell below its 200-day MA.
Top
sector of the day was the Airline
Index
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) up 1.70% at 92.53.
Losing
sectors of the day were the Gold and Silver
Index
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down 5.11%
at 63.95,
and The Street.com Internet Index
(
$DOT.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) down 5.00% to 138.27.
Computer maker International Business Machines
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 3.39%
to 99.40, remains the center of attention with its accounting practices under
scrutiny. The company told the Wall Street Journal that it would begin
making public questionable areas of accounting.
Auto giant General Motors
(
GM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 0.62 to 50.01, was upgraded by
UBS Warburg to Buy from Hold, citing that the company has become more efficient
over its rivals Ford
(
F |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 2.05% to 14.32, and Daimler Chrysler
(
DCX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 3.25% to 35.68, who had ratings their ratings of
“Reduce” maintained.
Discount retail giant Wal-Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 1.22% to 59.30,Â
has announced fourth quarter earnings of 49 cents a share, inline with
expectations. The company does not expect an acceleration in consumer spending.
Communications equipment maker Comverse Technology
(
CMVT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down
2.06% to 17.10, was upgraded by JP Morgan to Buy from Long-Term Buy.
Communications services company Nextel Communications
(
NXTL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
down 26.34% to 3.58, is expected to announce losses of 45 cents a share on
Thursday.
Parent of United Airlines,
UAL CorpÂ
(
UAL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 13.56% to 12.90, was boosted on news that the
company is reaching an agreement with its mechanics over labor issues. The
agreement will give workers a long-awaited pay raise of as much as 37% for
senior members.
Banker JP Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
fell 3.29% to 29.06 after it was released that the company was being sued in a
class action law suit over alleged false statements made in relation to its
exposure to Enron.