Another blowout quarter from Apple is lifting the Nasdaq futures this morning, but the rest of the market is rather subdued as the Fed's policy statement looms this afternoon. Stocks ended mixed on Tuesday as indecision continued ahead of the Fed. Small-caps were higher with the Russell... READ MORE
A look at the StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) movers shows Quest Diagnostics with a big move (+37) on Tuesday. On the price chart, DGX broke ascending triangle resistance with a surge in volume today. Click this chart for a live image... READ MORE
It is another big day on the earnings front. McDonalds, Baker Hughes and Air Products report before the open. Apple, Altera, AMD and Yahoo report after the market close. In addition to a big earnings week, we have EU debt wrangling, rumors on Portugal and a FOMC meeting. The US... READ MORE
Careful out there during earnings season. ATVI Declines on High Volume GFI Consolidates Near Wedge Breakout. GT Forms Pennant after Sharp Decline. Plus FST,GFI, LLY, MMM... READ MORE
QQQ opened flat, surged, dipped and then recovered to close basically unchanged on the day. As a result, the ETF formed a long legged doji, which shows indecision on the day. Overall, the trend remains up as the ETF holds above the December trendline. A break below this trendline would... READ MORE
It could be a volatile week, but what else is new. EU finance ministers are meeting to discuss the Greek debt situation because Greece is facing a large rollover in March. The Fed meets on Tuesday-Wednesday with a policy statement expected on Wednesday afternoon. Red-hot housing stocks will... READ MORE
The FOMC meets next Tuesday-Wednesday and will make its policy statement Wednesday afternoon. With stocks surging and recent economic reports buoyant, the bond market may be looking ahead to this meeting with trepidation. The first chart shows the 10-year Treasury Yield ($TNX) rising sharply the last three day.... READ MORE
While the German DAX Index ($DAX) and the French CAC Index ($CAC) languish well below their 2011 highs, the DJ Ireland Index ($IEDOW) shows strength with a break above its highs. Ireland was one of the first countries to get into trouble, but it appears that the tough medicine is... READ MORE
With two more upgrades, the indicator summary is now at plus nine. The only indicator not bullish is the $RUT:$OEX ratio because it has yet to convincingly break resistance. Small-caps are lagging a bit, but this could also be due to above-average strength in financial large-caps... READ MORE
Bank and tech earnings were largely positive on Thursday and stocks moved higher. Today we will hear from Schlumberger and General Electric, which will impact oil services and industrials. Stocks extended their gains on Thursday as the major index ETFs notched new highs for this short-term uptrend. The absolute... READ MORE
The Medical Devices iShares (IHI) has been moving higher since mid December and is now challenging its late summer high. Also notice that upside volume picked up over the last 4-5 weeks. While a breakout would be bullish, the ETF is getting overbought after a 13+ percent advance off... READ MORE
It is a big day on the earnings front. Judging from the rally over the last 4-5 weeks, it looks like most reports will be better than expected. Financials dominate the premarket reports with Bank of America, BB&T and Morgan Stanley reporting earnings before the open on... READ MORE
Careful out there. It is earnigns season. ATML Surges above Wedge Resistance. GFI Gaps above late December High. SLB Forges Outside Reversal Day on Big Volume. This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short... READ MORE
Stocks were largely higher on Wednesday with the technology sector leading the way. As the Sector Market Carpet shows, three of the top five performers in the technology sector come semiconductor group: Linear Tech (LLTC), Altera (ALTR) and Texas Instruments (TXN). Click this chart for a live image... READ MORE
The short-term uptrend for the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) began with the breakout on December 20th and is now entering its 19th day, which is pretty long for a short-term uptrend. Also note that the ETF is up around 8% from its December 19th low. For... READ MORE
John Murphy's industry group PerfChart shows the Banking Index ($BKX) and the Biotech Index ($BTK) leading the market higher with the biggest gains. Also note that the Gold and Silver Index ($XAU) and the Broker Dealer Index ($XBD) are strong this year. Click this chart for a live... READ MORE
Rumors that Standard & Poor's was going to downgrade the debt rating for several EU countries sent stocks sharply lower on the open Friday morning. Stocks remained down as rumors swirled, but did not add to their losses. The news finally hit at 3PM ET and stocks edged... READ MORE
ASEI Recovers on Strong Volume. EQR Forms Bullish Engulfing on High Volume. NE Surges off Consolidation Support. | Plus ADM, ADSK, AMZN, EQR, PCLN, TKC, VLO This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any... READ MORE
Spot Unleaded Gasoline ($GASO) found support in the 2.45-2.50 area from September to December and then broke resistance with a surge the last three weeks. The breakout is holding, but $GASO stalled this week and fell rather sharply on Thursday. A move back below 2.62 would... READ MORE
With another strong week in the stock market, the indicator summary improved with three indicator upgrades. The AD Lines are considered bullish because the NYSE AD Line broke its summer highs and the Nasdaq AD Line broke its early December high. The AD Volume Lines are bullish because both broke... READ MORE
Despite lackluster retail sales, stocks recovered from early losses on Thursday and closed near their highs for the session. The sectors were mixed with materials and industrials posting the biggest gains. Utilities and energy were down. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) remains in an uptrend on the 60-... READ MORE
The US Oil Fund (USO) started the year strong with a surge above 39, but cannot hold above this level as the ETF plunged over 1.5% on Thursday. USO was also turned back in the 39-40 area in November and December. In the indicator window, note that Spot... READ MORE
The intermarket picture is getting a bit strange. We have already seen the Euro and the stock market decouple in 2012. Over the last three days, we are also seeing a positive correlation between treasuries and stocks. These two were negatively correlated throughout 2011 and I am most concerned with... READ MORE
FLEX Breaks Resistance with Big Volume. LTD Tests Triangle Support. Bollinger Bands Narrow for XRAY. Plus ARO, EMC, GPS, X This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or otherwise)... READ MORE
The PerfChart below shows six intermarket related ETFs. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY), US Oil Fund (USO) and Gold SPDR (GLD) are positively correlated as all show gains in 2012. In an interesting twist, the Euro Currency Trust (FXE) and the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) are... READ MORE
Stocks surged on the open and then moved into a holding pattern the rest of the day. There was no upside follow through after the opening surge, but stocks held their gains and selling pressure was relatively muted. All sectors were up with materials, finance and industrials leading the way.... READ MORE
A look through the CandleGlance groups shows stocks in the oil equipment and services group moving higher on Tuesday. The image below shows four of the six stocks along with the DJ Oil Equipment & Services Index ($DJUSOI). Most of the stocks are up more than 2% with giant Schlumberger... READ MORE
There is not much change on the 60-minute chart for SPY. The ETF broke flag resistance with a surge late last week and then consolidated the last two days. The breakout is holding with first support marked at 127.20. While a move below this level would also break... READ MORE
CRR Bounces of 61.80% Retracement. MCK Breaks Triangle Trendline. VRTX Breaks Resistance on High Volume. Plus ASEI, CI, SUSS, TIF This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF or... READ MORE
Urban Outfitters (URBN) is showing signs of life with a move toward the upper trendline of a triangle consolidation. The stock is currently up three of the last five days, but volume is light. A breakout on surging volume would be bullish. Failure and a break below support at 27... READ MORE
The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) did not move much after Tuesday's opening gap, but did manage to hold its gains and close near the high for the week. Even though the ETF did not follow through on this gap, the gains are still holding and the... READ MORE
The Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) is showing relative strength this year with a triangle breakout and surge above its early December high. On the daily candlestick chart below, QQQ surged in October and then consolidated in November-December. This consolidation started wide in November and then narrowed in December as... READ MORE
The US Dollar Fund (UUP) broke above its October high and is closing in on a 52-week high this month. With higher highs in September, December and January, the trend here is clearly up. The Commodity Index Fund ($DBC) is not happy though. Notice that this ETF peaked in... READ MORE
The indicator summary got a couple more upgrades this week and remains in positive territory. In particular, the Trend-Structure indicator was upgraded to bullish because the Dow Industrials SPDR, S&P 500 ETF and Nasdaq 100 ETF broke above their early December highs. These breakouts could be reversed... READ MORE
The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) gapped up on Tuesday morning, formed a falling flag the next 2-3 days and then broke flag resistance with yesterday's surge. The short-term trend has been up since the breakout on December 20th and the bulls remain in charge.... READ MORE
Regions Financial (RF), which is part of the regional banking group, is showing strength with a break above the November-December highs on surging volume. Prior to today's breakout, the stock consolidated with a seven day pennant. Watch support in the 4-4.20 area for signs of... READ MORE
The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) remains in a short-term uptrend on the 60-minute chart. After a big gap on Tuesday morning, the ETF pulled back to broken resistance, which turned into the first support zone in the 126.50 area. SPY bounced back above 127.5... READ MORE
AA Surges off Support with Big Volume. LUV Consolidates after Strong Surge. WDC Forms Bullish Pennant after Breakout. Plus ANF, ATVI, WIN This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or sell short any security (stock ETF... READ MORE
The technical picture for Dow is improving as the 50-day simple moving average crossed above the 200-day simple moving average. Note that the 50-day SMA has not been above the 200-day SMA since August. Also notice that the senior average is trading at its highest level... READ MORE
Stocks surged on the open, but did not follow through on these opening gains. The Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) and S&P 500 ETF (SPY) held near their opening levels throughout the day, but the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and S&P MidCap 400 SPDR (MDY) sold off... READ MORE