Stocks rebounded with a big bang as the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) led the market higher. Yes, you read right. Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, and Dell all gained on the day and were on the most active list. Could the Dell LBO revive the old Winteldell machine? We shall see. Gains... READ MORE
A look at the ten most active stocks shows four old school tech stocks leading the charge. Microsoft, Dell, Intel and Cisco are all up and active. This table comes from the FreeCharts page. Chartists can see small candlestick charts for all ten by clicking the CandleGlance link or a... READ MORE
Although European issues got the blame for Monday's stock market decline, weakness should not come as a surprise because stocks were quite overbought and ripe for a corrective period. In addition to overbought conditions, two historical tendencies came into play on the second trading day of the month.... READ MORE
ADBE Stalls and Underperforms in January. APOL Forms a Bear Flag. Plus CCL, GES, ILMN, JCOM, NVDA 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). We all need to think... READ MORE
Some fears in Spain and Italy triggered a move away from risk as the US Dollar Fund (UUP) and the 20+ Year T-Bond ETF (TLT) surged on Monday. Even though the Dollar is up sharply, also note that the Gold SPDR (GLD) is up and gold is attracting money. Click... READ MORE
FEBRUARY IS THE SECOND CRUELEST MONTH... Link for todays video. Historical tendencies and overbought conditions suggest that the market is due for a rest, perhaps even this month. Historically, monthly returns for the S&P 500 are the strongest in December and January, and the weakest in September and... READ MORE
Stocks finished the week on a high note with the Dow Industrials closing above 14000 for the first time since 2007. The trend since mid November is pretty much straight up with the major index ETFs up double digits since these lows. The S&P 500 is up around... READ MORE
Energy apparently has more fuel in the tank. After underperforming the past couple years, it has rocketed higher to start 2013 and was the leading sector during what was a VERY solid January. As a student of history, that January strength bodes well for the stock market during the balance... READ MORE
READER QUESTION: I am always curious why you elect to use a surrogate of a market to provide a technical analysis. The one I have a concern with is using UUP to analyze a H&S formation and mention violation of support. However, the actual dollar chart shows that... READ MORE
My Thursday message showed the Power Shares Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) on the verge of a technical breakdown. The weekly bars in Chart 1 show the cash version of the Dollar Index. It too has a bearish look by showing the US Dollar Index threatening to fall below a... READ MORE
There has been quite a bit of banter recently about a "currency war" developing given the Japanese Yen has fallen dramatically against the USD - roughly -15% in the past 11-weeks. This is a rather major move for a currency; and it is such that it is providing... READ MORE
Hello Fellow ChartWatchers! The Dow moved above 14,000 yesterday at 11:04am. How do I know the exact time that happened? I know because StockCharts tweeted about it the instant it happened. Did you know we automatically tweet about a wide variety of significant technical signals, automatically alerting anyone... READ MORE
With a 150-point gain to end the week, the Dow Industrials closed above the next big number (14000) and hit a significant milestone. There is usually nothing special about round numbers, such as 14000, but this number is special because the Dow failed at 14000 in 2007. The financial crisis... READ MORE
FALLING DOLLAR BOOSTS COMMODITIES... My Thursday message showed the Power Shares Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) on the verge of a technical breakdown. The weekly bars in Chart 1 show the cash version of the Dollar Index. It too has a bearish look by showing the US Dollar Index threatening... READ MORE
DOW CHALLENGES 14000 FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2007... Link for todays video. The Dow surged around 1% in early trading on Friday and closed in on its next big round number (14000). There is usually nothing special about 14000, but this number is special because the Dow failed at 14000... READ MORE
I stumbled into a gift shop full of tchotchkes today. It was one of those retailers with endless trinkets and specialty items that encourage you to revisit your youth and marvel at someone else’s creativity. I became fascinated by one of those intricately detailed Russian “Matryoshka” – the wooden nesting... READ MORE
The markets are clearly in the mood to embrace risk. The S&P 500 and Spot Light Crude ($WTIC) are up over 10% since mid November, and the Euro Index ($XEU) is up over 6%. In contrast, the 30-Year US Treasury ($USB) and the US Dollar Index ($USD) are... READ MORE
Stocks stalled the last four days, but this is not enough to affect the indicators, nine of which remain in bull mode. The major index ETFs are clearly overbought and the world is calling for a pullback, but we have yet to see it. I suspect we will get one... READ MORE
Stocks finished the day mixed as the market awaits the employment report. The Dow Industrials SPDR (DIA) edged lower, but the S&P MidCap 400 SPDR (MDY) edged higher. The sectors were mostly lower with the Basic Materials SPDR (XLB) falling around 1%. Declines in the Gold Miners ETF... READ MORE
Want to find the leaders in the S&P 500? The StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) ranks the 500 S&P stocks from 0 to 100. The top 50 stocks in the index have scores from 90 to 100. These are deemed the stocks with the strongest technicals and... READ MORE
POWERSHARES DOLLAR ETF NEARS 52-WEEK LOW... Chart 1 shows the PowerShares US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) threatening to drop below its fourth quarter lows, which would put the UUP at the lowest level in more than a year. That would be a bearish turn for the dollar and would... READ MORE
The bulls finally took a breather as stocks succumbed to some selling pressure on Wednesday. Small-caps led the way lower as the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) fell over 1%. All sectors were down with the Industrials SPDR (XLI) falling .91% on the day. Given the run ups over the last... READ MORE
Careful out there. It is earnings season, the employment report is Friday and the new month starts. CIEN Breaks Down and Underperforms. MBI Forms Triangle and Bounces on Good Volume. Plus KO, S, USB, WSM This commentary and charts-of-interest are designed to stimulate thinking. This analysis is not a recommendation... READ MORE
SMALL-CAPS LEAD PULLBACK AFTER FED STATEMENT... Link for todays video. The Fed has come and gone without much fanfare or policy change. Stocks were treading water leading into the statement and then sold off afterwards. Selling was not that intense and I would not read too much into this sell... READ MORE
The bigger trends are clearly up for the Retail SPDR (XRT) as the ETF broke resistance with a big surge in January. However, XRT is short-term overbought after a big move and bearish candlesticks are taking shape. A harami-cross formed on Friday-Monday and a hanging man formed on Tuesday. A... READ MORE
Stocks started the day weak, but then caught a bid and the broad market indices moved higher the rest of the day. The final gains were not that big with the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) advancing .39% and the Dow Industrials SPDR (DIA) closing .42% higher. The sectors... READ MORE
Research in Motion (RIMM) has been one of the best performing stocks since late September. There is, however, evidence that the advance has exhausted itself as RIMM filled last week's gap above 16. This fill makes it an exhaustion gap that could give way to a retracement of... READ MORE
NASDAQ MARKET SHOWS SHORT-TERM NEGATIVE DIVERGENCE... The only major stock index that has yet to exceed its 2012 high is the Nasdaq Composite. Chart 1 shows the COMPQ still trading below its September high. Of more concern is the fact that the Nasdaq has been underperforming the S&P... READ MORE
Stocks started the week mixed with the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) edging higher and the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) edging lower. And I do mean "edging" because the moves were fractional. The sectors were also mixed with the Basic Materials SPDR (XLB) falling around 1% and... READ MORE
Careful out there. Earnings seaon is in full swing. ATVI Forms Flag Just Below Resistance. BIDU Breaks Flag Resistance with Volume. Plus CHS, CVG, EA, GME 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... READ MORE
The DJ US Defense Index ($DJUSDN) was hit hard the last three days and broke below the January lows. This index is now down for the year, which means it is underperforming the broader market. The indicator window shows the Percent Price Oscillator (PPO) turning lower, but remaining in positive... READ MORE
INTERMARKET ENVIRONMENT REMAINS POSITIVE FOR STOCKS... Link for todays video. The PerfChart below shows the performance for six intermarket ETFs since mid November, which is when the stock market bottomed. Notice that the S&P 500 ETF (SPY), the US Oil Fund (USO) and the Euro Currency Trust (FXE)... READ MORE
What more could a stock market want? The S&P 500 advanced the last eight days in a row and closed at a 52-week high. The Dow surged some 400 points in the last six days. Treasury bonds fell as market participants moved from safe-havens to riskier assets. The... READ MORE
The P&F pattern table on the predefined scans page is a good place to gauge the long-term trend for the stock market. As with a Bullish Percent Index, chartists simply need to pick a pattern and then compare the number of stocks on bullish P&F signals... READ MORE
In his Market Wizards books, Jack Swagger interviews an outstanding collection of renowned investors, traders and money managers. The single most common thread that each mentions as being a major contributor to their success is their money management skills. The challenge is to understand what they mean by money management.... READ MORE
10-YEAR TREASURY YIELD SURGES BACK ABOVE 1.9%... Link for todays video. Treasury yields surged and treasury bonds fell after the European Central Bank (ECB) reported that EU banks repaid more of their ECB loans (LTRO) than was expected. This positive news pushed money into riskier assets such as the... READ MORE
There are no changes in the indicator summary because stocks remained strong this week. QQQ and XLK were dragged down by Apple, but the Nasdaq 100 Equal-Weight ETF (QQEW) hit a new high, which means the average tech stock is doing just fine. The NYSE AD Line remains on an... READ MORE
The broad market indices edged higher on Thursday, but Apple dominated ETFs moved lower (QQQ and XLK). Note that the Nasdaq 100 Equal-Weight ETF (QQEW) advanced .43% and the FirstTrust Internet ETF (FDN) was up over 2%. The Basic Materials SPDR (XLB) was up on the day, but several industry... READ MORE
Apple may not support flash on its iPhone and iPad, but that does not seem to bother Adobe (ADBE) shareholders. Adobe lagged Apple throughout 2012, but may be having the last laugh as it starts to outperform. Apple is up less than 5% over the last 12 months, while Adobe... READ MORE
DOW INDUSTRIALS NEARS 2007 HIGH ... One of the oldest ways to determine the trend of the stock market is to compare the action of the Dow Transports and Industrials. Dow Theory holds that both indexes need to be in uptrends for a market uptrend to exist. As we've... READ MORE