Today we finally got this massive oversold rally. Citi's call of profitability and a combined SEC review of short sales via the uptick rule and some modifications to mark to market accounting led the way. That being said, the markets took this as added good news to what has so far only been a sea of red. Unfortunately, this was probably the lightest day of individual stock news in weeks. Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 6,880.78 +333.73 (5.10%)
S&P 500 719.60 +43.07 (6.37%)
Nasdaq 1,358.28 +89.64 (7.07%)
Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was the real culprit today. Vikram Pandit sent a memo to employees saying that the bank was running with the best two months since late 2007. While this was not without controversy, it was all an oversold market needed. This one was up 36% at $1.43 right before the close.
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) rose despite a late negative analyst's call. The PC giant and IT services giant was removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs on the heels of the disappointing numbers. The official rating remains a "BUY" rating. Shares rose 5.6% to $26.96.
Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) rose despite negative tape actions. The rating was cut to Market Perform at FBR and it defied lower oil prices after the EIA lowered the 2009 and 2010 price and demand targets for oil. Shares rose over 7.7% to $39.52.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) also managed to dodge some outside forces. Citigroup cut its rating to a HOLD. The trade-down spending winner managed to hang on with a gain of 2.4% at $48.67 today.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) rallied after a mid-quarter update showed no real further deterioration in its outlook since its guidance six weeks ago. Shares were up almost 7% at $15.68 right before the close.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-10-2009 @ 4:37PM
Iridium said...
Vikram "the mega thief" Pandit puts out a memo saying that Citi made a profit before taking any writedowns and the stock market surges.
This proves that Wallstreet is filled with complete morons. People actually think Citi is going to post a profit after they put everything on the books.
Only the massive intervention by the Fed allowed them to post any sort of profit. It is completely fake.
We need to put controls on the system now. The best one would be to put a closed sign on Wallstreet and force every company into the private market. Can't make real money then you go out of business.
3-10-2009 @ 9:04PM
shaun said...
Well, we finally got a rally. The Question is will it last or will it be one of those bear market rallys?
Only time will tell.
http://www.stocks-simplified.com