Updated late Tuesday and Friday nights
Tuesday’s Close for Jan 20th, 2008
Written by: Mike Coval

We did not get any "Change" from the new administration today. The markets followed the same old, same old. Right from the opening bell we were down and the selling only intensified later in the day.

To watch a video of Tuesday’s market action, along with my thoughts, Click Here. The DOW closed down 332 points at 7,949 while the NASDAQ closed lower by 88 to finish the day at 1,441.

Energy: Crude-oil futures ended higher Tuesday, as traders covered any remaining short February oil contracts. Late in the day, the price of Crude futures were trading up $2.23 at $38.74 a barrel. Track the price of crude with the Oil ETF, USO.



Shares of Houston-based Noble Energy, NBL, were up $1.01. The company said it has made its biggest discovery ever, a huge natural gas field off Israel's coast in the Mediterranean Sea.

Service: Google, GOOG, said it is cancelling a program that sold print ads for newspapers because the program did not produce the desired impact. The Internet search and advertising giant said it will stop offering the service on Feb. 28 and will place already booked ads through March 31. The stock closed down $16.29.



Financials: We have all seen the education stocks soar over the past year as laid off workers go back to school for more education. Benefitting from this is SLM, which was down $0.45 but has had a nice higher volume rally over the past two weeks. The nation's biggest student lender rose amid hopes that newly inaugurated President Obama will increase funding for education.

Consumer Non Cyclicals: Not all retailers are feeling a tight pinch, J.C. Penney, JCP, said there is no basis for concern about its credit facility and that it expects to have more than $2 billion of cash on its balance sheet at the end of fiscal 2008, ending on Jan. 31. It also said it has no debt maturities during 2009 and the next debt maturing is about $500 million in March 2010 which the company expects to repay from its cash balances. "The current credit facility provides an additional source of liquidity for the company, but has never been utilized for cash needs," said J.C. Penney.

Commodities: Gold futures rose Tuesday for a second session, ending above $850 an ounce for the first time in more than a week as worries that the global economic recession will deepen raised the metal's appeal as a safe haven. Gold for February delivery rose $15.30, or 1.8%, to close at $855.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending above $850 for the first time since Jan. 9. The Gold ETF, GLD closed up $1.81.



Newmont Mining, NEM, was up $1.36. Peruvian precious metals mining company Compania de Minas Buenaventura SAA (BVN) will begin construction on gold mine La Zanja as early as the first quarter of this year, despite global economic turmoil, chief financial officer Carlos Galvez told Dow Jones Newswires. Denver-based Newmont Mining holds a 47% stake in La Zanja.

Good and or bad stocks to watch: MYGN, CERN, RTN, GENZ, AVAV, UTR, MCO, NCR, HGT

Homework Training: Feel free to leave any stocks you would like to have looked at in the comments section (below) and I’ll try and choose one of the stocks and add it to my analysis for all to read. Please tell your investing friends about this blog as well. It is here for you and the more comments I can get from you the better it will be.

Homework: To finish the next stock pick using the Good Stock / Bad Stock evaluator, go to www.incometrader.com/homework.htm

Cheers,
Mike