Sam Collins

Nasdaq On the Verge of Going Negative

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Following a weak opening yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) again posted a gain, making it eight in a row. In the afternoon, the Treasury's auction for its seven-year bond received enough acceptance to trigger a late stock rally.

However, most of the day was spent in the red and little attention was given to the economic data, even though it was positive. The preliminary Q2 GDP reports showed a better-than-expected 1% annualized decline, and consumer spending during Q2 also was higher than expected -- contracting at just 1% versus an expected decline of 1.2%. And jobless claims came in close to expectations.

The market began to respond when Boeing (BA) said that its 787 Dreamliner is expected to be delivered in late 2010. But the real buying came as a result of the Treasury auction. American Express (AXP) rose 2.6%, Travelers (TRV) gained 0.8%, and AIG (AIG) ran the short sellers, gaining a whopping 26.93%.

At the close, the Dow was up 37 points to 9,581, the S&P 500 (SPX) rose 3 points to 1,031, and the Nasdaq (NASD) gained points to 2,028.

The NYSE traded 1.2 billion shares with advancers ahead of decliners by just 8-to-7. The Nasdaq traded 630 million shares with decliners ahead of advancers by a slight margin.