The broad market took it on the chin yesterday, losing around 1.5%, and Alcoa (AA) was among the worst-performing names in the Dow, shedding more than 3% of its value. The aluminum company’s CEO said Tuesday that while U.S. industrial demand for the metal is improving, he doesn’t feel “the current environment is such that [Alcoa] want[s] to bring capacity back” to pre-recession levels.
Some traders seem to have viewed pullback as a buying opportunity. Two large blocks traded on in-the-money, intermediate-term calls during Tuesday’s session. (more…)
It’s the broken record that we traders love to play again and again. While the process is the same, the outcome is almost always different. Earnings season is often a catalyst for change in a stock’s direction, volatility, and even sentiment. It can also simply accelerate a trajectory or cause a stock to do nothing at all, but regardless, just about every investor needs to be hyper-aware of earnings dates, especially the ones that involve your stocks or their peers.
The S&P 500 started trading last Friday at the same level at which it closed on Monday of the same week. The Dow and NASDAQ were also flat on the week.
Deutsche Bank downgraded Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) to “hold” from “buy,” this morning, citing higher energy prices and increased costs. Deutsche additionally trimmed its 2011 profit outlook to $1.51 per share from $2.08 and lowered its 12-month price target to $18 from $25 (note that this still represents 24% of upside from current levels). AA closed at $14.70 heading into the holiday weekend and is currently trading at $14.66.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it’s been another low volatility morning in the markets. All the major indices have been fluttering around unchanged and looking a bit tired as volume remains relatively low.
