Markets Flex

Major indexes jumped today, marking the one-month
anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. A rejuvenation of optimism was found in
traders’ belief that a bottom is in place as military activity in Afghanistan
increased. Several announcements
from big-caps strengthened the enthusiasm with better-than-expected earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed up 1.84% at 9,410.45.
The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed up 1.41% at 1,096.18. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)

closed up 4.62% at 1,701.47.

The markets were poised to flex
before the opening bell. Jobless Claims were down to 468,000, a decrease of
67,000 jobs from the previous week. A rumor of Osama bin Laden’s capture was
also said to have put a positive spin on the market. President George W. Bush
will give a prime-time address to the nation tonight. With convincing
follow-through, the markets may be on their way to a Fall Rally. An island
bottom on the Nasdaq with a gap open today creates strong support levels that
will need serious and committed selling power to conquer. The S&P 500 and
Dow are both out of cup-and-handles with the conviction of above-average volume
that the bulls like to see.

NYSE advancing issues tacked 1,987, with up-volume
at 1,198,903,552; declining issues were 1,125, and down volume at 457,357,504.
Nasdaq advancing issues were 2,452, with up-volume at 2,147,483,520; declining
issues were 1,194 with down volume at 297,024,320. The VIX was down 0.82 to
32.64.

Top sectors on the day were the Semiconductor
Sector Index
(
$SOX.X$ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
up 10.70% at 474.44 and the Morgan Stanley Internet
Index
(
$MOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
up 9.34% at 11.36.

Losing sectors of the day were the Gold And
Silver Sector Index
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
down 2.59% at 52.21 and the Pharmaceutical
Index
(
$DRG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
down 1.18% at 392.61.

Retail sales took a blow in the aftermath of
the attacks, with consumers shunning luxury goods, clothes and discounters like
Wal Mart
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
down 0.26% at $53.49

General Electric Co.
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
lead the Dow,
closing up 2.61% at 38.90. The company posted a 3% rise in third-quarter
profits. Loses from the 9/11 attacks are feared to push the company off its long
path of double-digit growth.

Other Dow leaders were Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, up 3.65%
at $32.97, and Caterpillar
(
CAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
, up 3.93% at $49.17.

Yahoo! Inc.
(
YHOO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rose 14.36% to $12.50
despite several downgrades. The company emphasized its intention to cut costs
and meet goals in a weak advertising environment.

Genentech
(
DNA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
shares were up 9.26% to
$44.58 after it met earnings expectations attributed to strong growth in sales
of its key drugs.

 

Â