Gain in NASDAQ Stock Market

The NASDAQ stock market opened with a slight gain on Wednesday, 24 September 2008. The NASDAQ finished down 2.35 (0.11 percent) at 2155.68. The energy sector (+1.4%) as well as technology sector (+0.9%) were the NASDAQ top gainer. Seven of the ten economic sectors traded in negative category. The industrials (-1.5%), utilities (-1.0%) and financial sector (0.2%) were the biggest NASDAQ losers. The crude oil prices fell to session lows down with 0.9% to $105.70 per barrel. On the percentage loss basis AIG (AIG 4.28, -0.72) was the worst performer. Some of the best percentage gainers were homebuilders, with Lennar (LEN 14.91, +2.20) up 17% and KB Home (KBH 20.43, +1.24) up 6%. Other indexes such as S&P 500 closed the session with a 0.2% loss.

Volatile Session in NASDAQ Stock Market

The NASDAQ stock market traded in a very volatile fashion on Tuesday, 23 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2153.33 with total decrease of -1.18%. Eight of the ten economic sectors posted a considerable amount of gain on Tuesday. The crude oil prices also fell by 2%. The commodities sector could not hold up to its gains and was the NASDAQ loser with a decrease of -0.4%. The industrial sector (-0.5%) after a decrease in the General Electric (GE 25.41, -0.74). The large cap technology sector was the NASDAQ biggest gainer with Dell (DELL 17.26, +0.69) is up 4.2%, Oracle (ORCL 20.44, +0.69) is up 3.5% and Microsoft (MSFT 26.11, +0.71) is up 2.8%. The materials (-1.5%) and the energy (-1.2%) were the biggest NASDAQ losers. The financial sector also fell by 1.5%.

Bad Session for NASDAQ Stock Exchange

The NASDAQ stock market opened the session with solid losses on Monday, 22 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2178.98 with NASDAQ computer showing a total loss of -4.17%. All the ten economic sectors posted a considerable amount of loss. The financial sector was the biggest NASDAQ loser with an overall decrease of 4.7%. The crude oil prices are up 3.3% to $108.05 per barrel. The consumer discretionary sector (-2.0%) was also the worst performing sector. At the same time the gold (+4.3%) prices rallied to session highs. Conversely, the dollar is down 1.3% against the basket of other world currencies. The dollar is down 2.7% against the Euro. The commodities sector was the NASDAQ top gainer with a gain of 3.3%.

Mixed for NASDAQ Stock Market

The NASDAQ stock market ended a rather mixed week and tough session on Friday, 19 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2273.9 with NASDAQ computer showing an overall increase of 3.4%. The oil prices settled at five month low while the gold and prices of other commodities also declined at a very modest rate. Other markets such as DOW ended the week 0.3% lower with Microsoft being the DOW’s biggest loser. The Standard’s and Poor’s 500 (SPX) index gained 0.4% while the NASDAQ composite (COMP) also lost a few points. The federal agencies steeped in to restore the confidence of the investors following a collapse of Lehman Brother and the intervention of the government into the AIG (AIG 3.85, +1.16).

Handsome Gains in NASDAQ Stock Market

The NASDAQ stock exchange opened on Thursday, 18 September 2008 with some early gains. The NASDAQ closed down 100.25 (4.78 percent) at 2199.1. The jobless claims for the week ending September 13 were expected to figure out at 440,000, but they came in at 455,000 which up by 10,000. The financial sector was the NASDAQ biggest gainer with a 6.3% gain. The oil prices have moved lower. They are now trading up as much as 5.2% earlier. The consumer staples sector traded in the positive category with a considerable gain of 1.5%. Education services, computer storage and peripherals, industrial gases, commercial printing, gold were some of the NASDAQ stocks that were the NASDAQ losers and did not have a very profitable session.

Slight Gain in NASDAQ Stock Market

The NASDAQ stock market was able to post slight gain on Monday, 16 September 2008 that too despite the on going economical crisis in the United States (US) economy. The NASDAQ closed on 2207.9 with an overall increase of 1.28%. There were also major concerns regarding the future of AIG (AIG 2.83, -1.93). Nine out of ten sectors were in the red. Only the financial sector (3.5%) was the lone biggest NASDAQ gainer. On the other, NASDAQ shares of various economic sectors such as materials, energy, telecom, industries, utilities and technology were the NASDAQ biggest losers. The crude oil prices tumbled once again down 4.5% to $91.40 per barrel and gasoline prices fell by 3.8%.

Steep Losses in NASDAQ Stock Market

The NASDAQ stock market opened sharply lower rate on Monday, 15 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2179.91 with NASDAQ computer depicting an overall loss of -3.6%. It was due to the Lehmann Brothers filing for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch being purchased by Bank of America for $29 per share. The crude oil prices are down to 4.3% and trading at $96.79 per barrel falling to their lowest since February. Lehman Brothers (LEH 0.16, -3.49) filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch (MER 20.71, +3.66) agreed to sell itself to Bank of America (BAC 28.33, -16.03) with certain reports indicating that insurance giant AIG (AIG 4.32, -7.82) is very desperate for capital. The Retail Sector (+0.4%) was the biggest NASDAQ gainer with the relative growth in Sherman Williams (SHW 62.51, +0.75) and Amazon.com (AMZN 79.56, +1.19). Likewise, the energy sector and the financial sector were the biggest NASDAQ losers.

What is the meaning of Penny Stocks-NASDAQ?

NASDAQ Penny Stocks
NASDAQ penny stocks are those stocks that are considered to be five dollars or less. These kinds of shares are available in extremely cheap rates. NASDAQ penny stocks are usually the shares of relatively small companies having a market capitalization of less that $500 million. It is very risky for an investor to buy these kinds of stocks than the other regular stocks. The penny stocks are not traded on the major stock exchanges such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the American Stock Exchange (AMEX). These stocks are generally traded over-the-counter (OTC) or on the pink sheet. The trading volume, financial stability and business plans are the various factors that must analyzed with regard to penny stock picks. Penny stocks are also known by the various names such as micro cap or small cap stocks, pink sheet stocks and nano stocks. Investing in penny stocks is quite riskier and hence the investor must collect thorough information about the penny stocks from the reputed sources.

An investor before going to buy the NASDAQ penny stocks must keep the following points in mind:

1. The NASDAQ penny stocks do not provide clear cut information to the public. This is because these stocks are mostly found in the pink sheets where the companies are not allowed to provide information related to their company to the public.
   
   
2. The NASDAQ penny stocks do not have history. This is because the companies that are applying in to get listed are usually new or approaching bankruptcy.
   
   
3. The NASDAQ penny stocks do not have much liquidity. Then in that situation the stocks may not be able to sell.
4. 
   The NASDAQ penny stocks lack minimum standard i.e. there is no minimum standard set for the NASDAQ penny stocks to stay on the exchange.

Continued to post steep weekly Losses

The NASDAQ stock market ended the rather good week on Friday, 12 September 2008. But it continued to post steep weekly losses throughout the week. The NASDAQ closed on 2261.27 with an upward increase of 0.14%. The NASDAQ stock exchange lost 4.7% for the week. The DOW lost 2.8% on the week. The S&P 500 index also lost 0.4 to end the week on 1,242. The crude oil prices continued to gain and loss all week long. The technology sector shares were the NASDAQ top gainers. Gains were also impressive in the energy and materials sector. The financial sector continued to disappoint the investors and was also the Biggest NASDAQ loser. This week's biggest NASDAQ gainer was perhaps the consumer staples sector. It has further advanced 2.6% week to date.

List of NASDAQ 100 stocks

Continue From Last post...

Given below is the list of NASDAQ 100 stocks that are listed in NASDAQ 100 index:
1. Activision (ATVI)
2. Adobe Systems Incorporated (ADBE)
3. Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM)
4. Altera Corporation (ALTR)
5. Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
6. Amgen Inc. (AMGN)
7. Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN)
8. Apollo Group, Inc. (APOL)
9. Apple Inc. (AAPL)
10. Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT)
11. Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK)
12. Baidu.com, Inc. (BIDU)
13. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY)
14. Biogen Idec Inc (BIIB)
15. Broadcom Corporation (BRCM)
16. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW)
17. CA, Inc. (CA)
18. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS)
19. Celgene Corporation (CELG)
20. Cephalon, Inc. (CEPH)
21. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP)
22. Cintas Corporation (CTAS)
23. Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO)
24. Citrix Systems, Inc. (CTXS)
25. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTSH)
26. Comcast Corporation (CMCSA)
27. Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST)
28. Dell Inc. (DELL)
29. DENTSPLY International Inc. (XRAY)
30. Discovery Holding Co (DISCA)
31. DISH Network Corporation (DISH)
32. eBay Inc. (EBAY)
33. Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS)
34. Expedia, Inc. (EXPE)
35. Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD)
36. Express Scripts, Inc. (ESRX)
37. Fastenal Company (FAST)
38. Fiserv, Inc. (FISV)
39. Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX)
40. Focus Media Group Limited (FMCN)
41. Foster Wheeler Corporation (FWLT)
42. Garmin Ltd. (GRMN)
43. Genzyme Corporation (GENZ)
44. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD)
45. Google, Inc. (GOOG)
46. Hansen Natural Corporation (HANS)
47. Henry Schein, Inc. (HSIC)
48. Hologic, Inc. (HOLX)
49. IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI)
50. Infosys Technologies (INFY)
51. Intel Corporation (INTC)
52. Intuit, Inc. (INTU)
53. Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG)
54. Joy Global Inc. (JOYG)
55. Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR)
56. KLA-Tencor Corporation (KLAC)
57. Lam Research Corporation (LRCX)
58. Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR)
59. Leap Wireless International, Inc. (LEAP)
60. Level 3 Communications (LVLT)
61. Liberty Global, Inc. (LBTYA)
62. Liberty Media Corporation, Interactive Series A (LINTA)
63. Linear Technology Corporation (LLTC)
64. Logitech International, SA (LOGI)
65. Marvell Technology Group, Ltd. (MRVL)
66. Microchip Technology Incorporated (MCHP)
67. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
68. Millicom International Cellular S.A. (MICC)
69. Monster Worldwide, Inc. (MNST)
70. NetApp, Inc. (NTAP)
71. NII Holdings, Inc. (NIHD)
72. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)
73. Oracle Corporation (ORCL)
74. PACCAR Inc. (PCAR)
75. Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO)
76. Paychex, Inc. (PAYX)
77. PetSmart, Inc. (PETM)
78. QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM)
79. Research in Motion Limited (RIMM)
80. Ryanair Holdings, PLC (RYAAY)
81. SanDisk Corporation (SNDK)
82. Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD)
83. Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (SIAL)
84. Sirius XM Radio (SIRI)
85. Staples, Inc. (SPLS)
86. Starbucks Corporation (SBUX)
87. Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD)
88. Stericycle, Inc (SRCL)
89. Sun Microsystems, Inc. (JAVA)
90. Symantec Corporation (SYMC)
91. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (TEVA)
92. The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (DTV)
93. UAL Corporation (UAUA)
94. VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN)
95. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX)
96. Virgin Media (VMED)
97. Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFMI)
98. Wynn Resorts, Ltd. (WYNN)
99. Xilinx, Inc. (XLNX)
100. Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO)

What is NASDAQ 100

Ever Wondered what all this is about?

NASDAQ 100 (NDX) is essentially a stock index which is generally used to measure the performance of hundred companies. NASDAQ 100 Index began to function on January 31, 1985. On 1 December, 2004 the NASDAQ 100 QQQ symbol was changed to four letter symbol QQQQ. These hundred companies are listed in the NASDAQ stock exchange or NASDAQ stock market. Some of the people get confused with NASDAQ composite and NASDAQ future but they are entirely different. The term NASDAQ means National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. NASDAQ 100 index consists of clutch of companies that come under the NASDAQ. NASDAQ Financial 100 Index and NASDAQ 100 Technology Sector index are the major NASDAQ 100 indexes. In NASDAQ 100 only the performances of certain companies with the specific sectors of the economy are measured such as biotechnology, technology, retail, etc and they form the NASDAQ 100 stocks.. The companies that are to be listed on the NASDAQ 100 index have to fulfill certain criterions of the NASDAQ stock market which are absolutely mandatory.

Guidelines for Listing in NASDAQ 100 Index

Given below are the various guidelines that the companies must adhere with in order to list themselves in NASDAQ 100 index:

• The company must be non-financial company.
• The companies listed in NASDAQ 100 must have been publicly traded for not less that two years.
• The companies must have average trading volume of at least 200,000 shares.
• The companies that are to be listed must not be bankrupt.
• The companies must not be involved in potential merger transactions

Click here to Get a complete list of stocks in NASDAQ 100 Index:

Modest Gains in NASDAQ Stock Market

There was solid trading of NASDAQ shares in the NASDAQ stock exchange on Thursday, 11 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2258.22 with an overall decrease of 1.32%. The oil prices were down with 1% and are above the $100 per barrel mark. The financial sector (-1.2%) and investment banks and brokerages (-5.4%) were the biggest NASDAQ losers. The health care sector (+0.2%) was the NASDAQ top gainer. The initial jobless claims for the week declined 6,000 to 445,000. Some of the other NASDAQ shares listed on NASDAQ stock market such as fertilizers and agricultural chemicals, homebuilding and diversified banks, education services, auto manufacturing, etc were the biggest NASDAQ gainers.

Poor Session for Stocks in NASDAQ Stock Market

The Major NASDAQ stocks of the NASDAQ Stock Market posted a modest loss on Tuesday, 9 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2209.81 with NASDAQ computer showing the overall loss of -2.64%. The NASDAQ stock market plummeted majorly due to the 4% increase in crude oil prices, fall in July pending home sales larger than expected amount and various other reasons. Pending home sales for the month of July fell by 3.2% as against expected decrease of 1.5%. The crude oil prices fell by 4.4% and are trading at $102 per barrel. The financial sector (-0.4%) was the biggest NASDAQ loser with Lehman Brothers (LEH 11.84, -2.31) falling to its lowest level since 1999. While the consumer discretionary (+1.1%) and technology sector (+0.7) was the NASDAQ top gainers. The fall was also seen in the NASDAQ shares of the energy (-2.4%) and materials (-2.3%) sectors respectively.

Solid Trading in NASDAQ Stock Market

The NASDAQ stock market traded with strong gains on Monday, 8 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2269.76 with an overall increase of 0.62%. The increase in NASDAQ stock exchange was seen due to the takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae by the United States government and due to the rally in the dollar. The financial sector (+5.5%) was the NASDAQ top gainer with Lehman Brothers (LEH 17.60, +1.40), Citigroup (C 20.77, +1.70)and Bank of America (BAC 35.44, +3.21) all gaining notable amount of strength. Meanwhile, the dollar is up by 0.4% and the crude oil prices are up 2.4% to $108.80 per barrel. Boeing (BA 62.75, -0.14) is trading with a loss due to the indefinite strike of its machinists. The Technology sector (-0.5%) was the biggest NASDAQ loser with Oracle (ORCL 19.44, -0.62), Apple (AAPL 153.43, -6.74) and Research In Motion (RIMM 99.68, -7.27) all trading under losses. It however did not proved to be a fruitful session for some of the NASDAQ stocks such as coal and consumable fuels, diversified metals and mining, fertilizers and agricultural chemicals, Internet software and services, etc.

NASDAQ Stock Exchnage Ends Week on Low Note

The NASDAQ stock market ended a rather disappointing week on Friday, 5 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2255.88 with an overall decrease of -0.14% following up with a rise in the unemployment rates up to 6.1%. Throughout the week, the materials and the energy sectors were the major economic sectors that traded with a considerable amount of gain throughout the NASDAQ session and were the major NASDAQ gainers also. The technology sector performed well initially, but it could not hold on to its gain for the later period of time. The technology companies have started to fear that a slowdown in technology will have a significant impact on their business operations. Retreat in the oil prices were seen as the main cause for slowdown in the NASDAQ stock exchange. The oil prices have not settled below $106 per barrel since early April.

Low Movement of Stocks in NASDAQ Stock Exchange

The NASDAQ stock market continued to tumble on Thursday, 4 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2259.04 reporting an overall loss of -3.2%. All the ten economic sectors shares listed on NASDAQ stock exchange were not able to gain even a modest amount of gain. This was mainly due to the differences in the economic data and earnings results and mixed store sales estimates for the month of August. The oil futures are up by 0.1% and trading at $109.40. The defense oriented utility sector showed a gain of 0.3%. The technology sector (-1.2%) and the financial sector (2.4%) were the NASDAQ biggest losers. Oracle (ORCL 20.19, -1.00), Cisco (CSCO 22.32, -0.99), Apple (AAPL 161.97, -4.99) and Intel (INTC 20.63, -0.91) were the major NASDAQ shares of the technology sectors and for them the session of NASDAQ was not so fruitful.

Disappointing Session For NASDAQ Stock Market

It was another disappointing session for the NASDAQ stock exchange on Wednesday, 3 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2333. 73 resulting in the overall loss of -0.66%. The fallout in the in technology stocks, retreat in the oil prices and rise in the July factors orders more than expected were the main reasons behind the steep decrease in the NASDAQ stock market. The crude oil prices are down 1.2% to $108.41 per barrel. The technology sector (-1.1%) was the biggest NASDAQ loser with NASDAQ stocks of the some technology sector shares performing badly such as Corning (GLW 17.97, -1.53) and semiconductors (-1.7%). Besides technology shares, the shares of the other sectors namely materials (-1.6%) and energy sector (-1.2%) were also on the defensive. The consumer discretionary sector (+1.4) was the biggest NASDAQ gainers of the session.

Low Trading Session at NASDAQ Stock Market

The NASDAQ stock exchange continued to trade at lower levels on Tuesday, 2 September 2008. The NASDAQ closed on 2349.24 with NASDAQ computer showing an overall loss of -0.77%. This was due to the sell off in the commodities and relief after Hurricane Gustav did not cause any major damages. The financial sector was the NASDAQ top gainer of the session with a gain of 2.2% with Freddie Mac (FRE 4.88, +0.37) and Fannie Mae (FNM 7.15, +0.31) reporting a considerable amount of gain. There was a steep loss of 5.9% in the crude oil prices and trading at 108.54 per barrel. Google (GOOG 477.62) was the NASDAQ biggest gainer with the announcement that it is going to launch a web browser. The materials sector and the energy sector were down 1.6% and 3.7% respectively and were the NASDAQ biggest losers. Meanwhile, the stocks continue to tumble at DOW with the stocks trading at lower levels. Some of the stocks in the DOW namely Alcoa (AA 30.82, -1.31), Chevron (CVX 84.22, -2.10) and Exxon-Mobil (XOM 78.34, -1.67) were hit after the decline in the oil prices.

Steep and Widespread Losses in NASDAQ Stock Exchange

The NASDAQ stock exchange started the week of September with a low note. The NASDAQ closed on 2367.52 on Monday,1 September 2008, reporting a total decrease of -1.83%. The six of the ten economic sectors posted a considerable loss. This was majorly due to the lowest than expected earnings per share results compounded with the slowdown in the IT spending. The oil prices are currently up by 1.3% and trading at $117 per barrel. The telecom sector (+0.6) was the NASDAQ top gainer of the session. The financial sector continued to trade in the negative category with Freddie Mac (FRE 4.55, -0.73) and Fannie Mae (FNM 6.95, -1.00) moving sharply lower. Microsoft (MSFT 27.47, -0.47) was also the main laggard of the session. Some of the other NASDAQ shares such as regional banks, investment banking and brokerage and homebuilding were the NASDAQ top gainers. While other stocks on the NASDAQ such as application software, distillers and vinters, construction materials, computer hardware, Internet retail, etc were the NASDAQ losers.