Today was a quiet day of selling despite the return of most traders to Wall Street. It seems that everyone was trying to get their bearings back more than they were willing to take any major bets on the "real" first day back for 2009. That also took back part of Friday's gains. A $300 billion tax stimulus plan from President-elect Obama camp may have been trumped by more weak and bleak data, as well as by a $2.00 rise in oil. His comments of "Things are getting worse..." may have trumped any positives today, and auto sales data just echoed those thoughts.
Here are the closing bell levels:
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was almost a winner today. Its shares were upgraded to Overweight at JPMorgan on valuations and dominance of its online shopping empire.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) came out today to say that Steve Jobs' weight loss was tied to hormonal imbalances rather than to any resurgence of cancer. The company's notes to fight any pre-Macworld speculation paid off with shares up over 4% at $94.25 shortly before the close.
IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) posted overall trading gains, but it appears that the trading on OTC energy and power markets is not growing at all as many had hoped. Shares were down about 12% at $74.00 late in the day.
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) rose sharply today on speculation that China may ease visa requirements for gamblers to get to Macau. Shares were up over 15%, trading north of $8.10 late in the day.
Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) seems to be a victim of the economic slowdown coupled with low-priced gas. December auto sales from the hybrid leader were down a sharp 36.7% as people stopped not buying cars in general. Much cheaper gas is also keeping hybrid car sales gains somewhat muted. Shares were down almost 1% at $65.75 late in the day.
Before the bell: Futures decline as oil falls sharply; GM's bankruptcy plan approved
Entrepreneur's Journal: Key steps for telesales success
The week in preview: Focus returns to earnings: Alcoa, Chevron, Family Dollar
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-07-2009 @ 1:33AM
SeismicStockTrading said...
I agree that AAPL may see some stiff competition from an aggressive NFLX. In addition, Steve Jobs' "hormonal imbalance" could be a lingering weakening influence on the stock since the trust level in general is low right now. I'm a technical trader (seismicstocktrading.com) and my indicators say "sell", even at this low stock price.