The market rallied late in the day Monday to finish in positive territory. The Nasdaq was the biggest winner, posting a 0.38% gain, while the Dow and S&P eked out only marginal gains. Apple (AAPL) can be credited for the Nasdaq's relative strength as the stock jumped 3.97% ahead of its iPad mini media event tomorrow. AAPL then reports earnings on Thursday after the close.
Caterpillar (CAT) stemmed the tide of weak earnings reports and closed the day 1.45% higher. The stock opened lower but rallied early in the session before trading in a range the rest of the day.
Google (GOOG) was unable to participate in the small tech bounce as the chart remains broken following last week's earnings debacle. The stock plummeted last week not only due to the weak earnings numbers, but also due to the manner in which they were released. The release came unexpectedly in the late morning after the company's financial printer reportedly posted the report prematurely. GOOG fell 0.46% today.
Yahoo! (YHOO) is nearly 3% higher post-market following the release of its earnings report. The company, now operating under new CEO Marissa Meyer, saw its profit jump sharply due to the sale of its Alibaba stake. Thirteen-year Google executive Meyer is reportedly shifting Yahoo!'s focus back to technology from media, a shift that has so far been viewed favorably by investors.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and UnitedHealth (UNH) each surged around 1.6% on the day to lead the Dow.
Right now traders are in a bit of "wait and see" mode. The market felt weak most of the day before finishing marginally higher. Should today's action be considered resilient in the face of Friday's mini-panic, or is this just digestion of that down move before another leg lower? Those questions will be answered in the coming sessions for certain, with AAPL likely to play a big role in determining that the rest of this week.
*DISCLOSURES: Scott Redler has no positions
