TEXAS INSTRUMENTS SPARKS SOX BUYING ... A high-volume gain in Texas Instruments help lead a 5% gain in the Semiconductor (SOX) Index which had just hit a new 52-week low yesterday. Chart 1 shows TXN gapping up and through its 50-day moving average and reaching a new high monthly high. The... READ MORE
NASDAQ MARKET HAS NO BOUNCE... One of the missing ingredients in the recent market rebound has been the lack of participation by the technology-dominated Nasdaq market. While the Dow and the S&P 500 have climbed over their 200-day moving averages, the Nasdaq indexes haven't been able... READ MORE
HOVNANIAN SPARKS HOME BUYING... Homebuilders are finally joining the rotation into rate-sensitive stocks groups -- like financials, utilities, and REITs. A high-volume breakout in Hovnanian Enterprises is today's main catalyst for the buying of homebuilders. Chart 1 shows HOV breaking through its summer high and its 200-day moving... READ MORE
CRUDE DROPS A DOLLAR -- GOLD UNDER $400 ... After recovering barely half of its August price decline, crude oil has fallen over a dollar today and is trading back under $43. That's giving a boost to the rest of the market. With oil falling, energy shares are seeing... READ MORE
RETAILERS LEAD DAY'S ADVANCE... Our midday market message focused on the upturn in retail stocks that started this morning. By day's end, the retail stocks achieved big gains and helped lead an impressive stock market advance. Chart 1 shows the AMEX Retail Holders (RTH) jumping to... READ MORE
MARKING UP RETAIL... Retail stocks are having an especially good day. Chart 1 shows the Retail Holders (RTH) jumping impressively over its 50-day average today on rising volume. Percentagewise, it's one of the day's strongest groups. The relative strength line bottomed in early August after months... READ MORE
AUGUST ENDS ON UPNOTE... After trading lower throughout most of the day, late buying pushed the market into positive territory -- thereby ending the month on an upnote. Volume remained below average. Chart 1 shows the S&P 500 closing a shade above its 50-day moving average. It remains... READ MORE
BOND YIELDS FALL TO NEW LOW... The August drop in consumer confidence is boosting bond prices today and, at the same time, pushing yields to a new five-month low (see Chart 1). Hints at economic weakness are causing investors to sell some stocks and buy some bonds. Falling bond yields... READ MORE
HEALTH CARE ETF EXCEEDS 50-DAY AVERAGE... Over the past week, we've shown some of the leading market sectors -- mainly financials and materials -- that were either breaking out to the upside or close to doing so. Today, we're taking a closer look at the one... READ MORE
MATERIALS SECTOR SPDR NEARS UPSIDE BREAKOUT... One of the market's strongest sectors is basic materials. Chart 1 shows the Materials Select Sector SPDR close to breaking through its April/July peaks. That would be an impressive breakout if it occurs and would put the ETF at the highest... READ MORE
CRUDE BREAKS 20-DAY LINE... Crude oil continued its fall that started last Friday just shy of $50. It plunged $1.74 today to break its 20-day moving average for the first time in two months. Chart 1 shows the dotted 20-day average overlaid on the daily price chart along with... READ MORE
SHORT-TERM TOP IN PLACE... The price of oil continues to drop. Last Friday I showed the 14-day RSI at the most overbought level (over 70) in three months and starting to weaken. Chart 1 plots the 14-day stochastic lines which have turned down from overbought territory over 80. What may... READ MORE
GOLD HITS FOUR-MONTH HIGH ... My Thursday Market Message focused on an impending bullish breakout in gold as it tested its July peak at $410. Bullion completed that bullish breakout today with a gain of $6.20 to put it at a new four-month high. The Gold & Silver Index (XAU)... READ MORE
LOWER RATES HURT DOLLAR, BOOST CRB... Long-term rates have been dropping since June mainly due to signs of economic weakness resulting from rising energy prices. Chart 1 shows the 10-year T-note yield falling to the lowest level in four months and slipping beneath its 200-day moving average. That's... READ MORE
GOLD STOCK JUMP OVER 4%... Our midday message showed gold challenging its July peak at $410. Gold closed the day at $409. With gold on the verge of a bullish breakout, the Gold & Silver Index (XAU) gained more than 4% and closed at a new four-month high. Chart 1... READ MORE
BULLION IS TESTING JULY HIGH... Continuing weakness in the U.S. Dollar is lighting a fuse under the gold market -- and gold-related stocks. Gold is trading up more than $3.00 today and is testing its July peak at $410. A close through that chart barrier would represent a... READ MORE
GUEST COMMENTARY BY CHIP ANDERSON... John is visiting family in the western US right now so Chip Anderson, president of StockCharts.com, is filling in for him. John should be back by Thursday. MARKETCARPET DRILL DOWN... John has been a fan of our free MarketCarpet analysis tool for years and... READ MORE
CISCO AND NSM PLUNGE TO 2004 LOWS... All one need do is look at the first two charts to see where most of today's selling came from. Cisco, which is often considered a bellwether for technology, plunged 10% today to register a new 2004 low. And it did... READ MORE
DOW BOUNCES FROM OVERSOLD CONDITION ... The Dow Industrials gained well over a hundred points today after the Fed's expected decision to raise short-term rates another quarter point. The Fed's continued optimism about the pace of the economy may have encouraged some bottom-fishing. That and the fact... READ MORE
DOW AND S&P 500 BREAK MAY LOWS... With the Nasdaq market having already fallen to a new for the year, it was just a matter of time until the Dow and the S&P 500 did the same. They did that on Friday -- and on rising... READ MORE
RETAILERS BREAK NECKLINE... Retailers got marked down today in a big way. Same stores sales for July rose at the second slowest level in nine months. Economists blame higher energy prices. That's simple economics. Yet most economists dismissed the threat from rising oil prices through the first half... READ MORE
CRUDE OIL MOVES OVER $44 -- ENERGY EXCELS... It's the same story all over again. Crude oil prices moved over $44 today to reach a new record high. While that hurt the stock market, it gave another boost to energy shares. Chart 1 shows the Energy Select Sector... READ MORE
S&P BOUNCES OFF MAY LOW... The S&P 500 bounced off its May low this week which helped stabilize its short-term trend. Unfortunately, it didn't do much to turn the intermediate downtrend around. For one thing, volume this week was lighter than the week before... READ MORE
CRUDE OIL CLOSES AT RECORD HIGH ... Crude oil jumped over a dollar on Friday to close at a new record high. While that continues to benefit the energy sector, it's continuing to have a depressing effect on the economy and the rest of the stock market. U.S.... READ MORE
TELECOM ETFs SHOW IMPRESSIVE GAINS... One of the main sparks that helped ignite today's oversold market bounce was the strong gain in the telecom sector. Two of the top performing Exchange Traded Funds today were the AMEX Telecom Holders (TTH) and Telecom iShares (IYZ). Chart 1 shows the... READ MORE
S&P 500 NEARING TEST OF MAY LOW ... The new week is starting off much like the old week ended -- with more selling. As was suggested on Friday, the S&P 500 Large Cap Index is nearing an important test of its May low. Looking beneath the... READ MORE
NASDAQ BREAKS MAY LOW ... The Nasdaq Composite Index broke its May low and fell to the lowest level in nine months. That carries bad news not just for the technology sector that dominates the Nasdaq market, but the rest of the market as well. That's because the Nasdaq... READ MORE
NASDAQ LEADS DECLINE ON RISING VOLUME... In yesterday's wrapup I mentioned that the Nasdaq bounce off its May low lacked volume. That volume returned today. Unfortunately, it came on the downside. As a result, the Nasdaq (and the rest of the market) suffered a downside reversal day that... READ MORE
NASDAQ TESTING ITS MAY LOW... Today's Nasdaq-led market bounce shouldn't come as to much of a surprise. Chart 1 shows why. The Nasdaq Composite Index has reached its May low near 1865 where it's logical to expect some short-covering and some bottom-fishing. The daily... READ MORE
ENERGY SOARS -- CHIPS FALL... Which market groups are rallying and which ones are falling usually carry a market message. Two notable group dynamics that took place this week were a new high in energy shares and a now low in semiconductors. Neither one is good for the stock market.... READ MORE
CRUDE OIL JUMPS OVER $41... Crude oil prices jumped $1.65 today to close over $41 for the first time in nearly two months. That gave a boost to energy shares. Chart 2 shows the Energy Select Sector SPDR hitting a new 52-week high today. Unfortunately, that proved bearish for... READ MORE
INTEL TUMBLES TO 2004 LOW... Intel is tumbling to a new a new for the year and is pulling the Semiconductor (SOX) Index along with it. That also caused a lower opening in all the major stock indexes -- especially the Nasdaq. After a lower open, however, the market is... READ MORE
DOW BOUNCES OFF 200-DAY LINE... After a technology-led morning selloff, the market staged an afternoon bounce that came at a good time. That's because it kept the Dow Industrials over their 200-day moving average. With the exception of the Nasdaq, which closed in negative territory, all the major... READ MORE
MONTHLY MACD POSITIVE BUT WEAKENING... This is a good time to stand back and try to put things into a longer-term perspective. First of all, let's see why the 2004 rally has been stalled. The monthly bars in Chart 1 show that the S&P 500 ran... READ MORE
DOW BOUNCING OFF 200-DAY LINE... I mentioned yesterday that the Dow was testing long-term support at its 200-day moving average. In early trading, the Dow is up nearly 50 points and is bouncing off its 200-day line. It's getting a lot of help from General Electric which reported... READ MORE
YAHOO PULLS NASDAQ LOWER... The technology sector got battered again. The most prominent casualty was Yahoo which tumbled more than 7% to get the day off to a weak start. Chart 1 shows Yahoo gapping down to its 50-day average on massive volume. That made Internet stocks the day'... READ MORE
EURO HITS THREE-MONTH HIGH ... I've recently shown the U.S. Dollar Index rolling over to the downside and have suggested this could have a positive impact on gold and other commodity markets -- as well as their related common stocks. The dollar fell again today. Chart 1 shows... READ MORE
VERITAS PLUNGES ON HEAVY VOLUME ... One need only to look at Chart 1 to see where the bad technology day started. Veritas Software plunged 36% on massive volume. Although several technology stocks opened lower, and got the day off to bad start, this was the biggest casualty. Things got worse... READ MORE
BOND YIELDS TUMBLE TO TWO-MONTH LOW... A weaker than expected June jobs report pushed the 10-year T-note yield to the lowest level in two months as shown in Chart 1. The benchmark yield fell beneath its 50-day average on Tuesday and signalled the start of the lower trend. That'... READ MORE
NASDAQ 100 FALLS BELOW BREAKOUT POINT... Yesterday we showed the Nasdaq 100 closing above its April peak in an apparent upside breakout. Today's price drop, however, pushed it back below the breakout point at 37.50. In chart work, a close beneath a breakout point negates the breakout.... READ MORE