April 20, 2024

Icahn comments spark late day sell off

Index & Sector performance 11/18/13 The Market: It was a fairly quiet day in the markets until a comment from Carl Icahn appears to have started a late day sell off after noting that he could see the markets have a “big drop”.  This sent the S&P 500 down roughly 12 points in the final hour of trading In economic date the NAHB Housing Market Index fell slightly short of estimates posting a 54 when 56 was expected.  Today also some a mix of Fed speak and that continues tomorrow including Fed Chairman Bernanke at 7pm EST and President Obama…

Bulls fight back after a gap down

Index & Sector performance 11/13/13 The Market: Losses after a gap down on the open were completely recouped in the first hour of trading.  After a brief consolidation, the S&P 500 moved strongly higher into the close posting a 14 point up day but from trough to peak the moved covered 22 points. In economic data the Federal Budget Balance came in better than expected with a -91.6B vs expectations of -104.3B.  Tomorrow there is more economic data including the usual Unemployment Claims which we have an estimate of 331K. Another noteworthy even is that Janet Yellen testifies tomorrow at…

ECB moved & so did the markets

Index & Sector performance 11/7/13 The Market: The S&P 500 spiked higher around 8am EST time after the ECB announced a rate cut.  This move was further helped by a strong Q3 GDP number.  While we opened off the pre-market highs, the real selling began after the bells.  After each move lower the market tried to stage a rally but all were sold.  The S&P 500 closed right at the 20 day SMA  From peak to trough using the S&P futures we saw a near 30 point swing to the downside. In economic news, GDP came in much stronger than…

AA kicks off a new earnings season…tomorrow

Index & Sector performance 10/07/13 The Market: The markets started down strong but found early support and rallied into midday but couldn’t hold and press toward Friday’s close and instead sold off during the last hour of trading closing near the early morning slows but just slightly above. Hard to believe we are kicking off another earnings season but Alcoa (AA) will start tings off again Wednesday 10/8/13 after the close.  While AA no longer has the significance it once did, it still is known for ushering in the season and many larger more impactful names will then be reporting….

Qualcomm (QCOM)

Qualcomm (QCOM) has been a great example at how some stocks are best when your buying them near support instead of after the break of a trend line or resistance.  Waiting for a break often left you down on the position in the coming days.  QCOM tested the longer term uptrend line on the first few pull backs but has not been there for a while and recent dips held the 50 day SMA. QCOM received a recent downgrade of sorts by Goldman Sachs from Conviction Buy to Buy but they left the $80 price target.  That price target would…

Week in Review

DJIA +149.21 (+1.08%) to 14,009.79; S&P 500 +15.06 (+1.01%) to 1,513.17; NASDAQ +36.97 (+1.18%) to 3,179.10 I have been looking and highlighting a pattern that seemed to be begging for higher prices in the short term and why the stance has been that while ultimately I would like to see a broader pullback/correction to provide the markets a better base to then press higher from again, in the short term it felt that every dip was an opportunity for a long trade.  Friday’s action now for me has brought the S&P 500 into the levels I was looking for and…

Daily Wrap

DJIA -49.84 (-0.36%) to 13,860.58; S&P 500 -3.85 (-0.26%) to 1,498.11; NASDAQ -0.18 (-0.01%) to 3,142.13 Today’s action all maintained in a narrow range as the market’s seem to be waiting for tomorrow’s non-farm payroll report.  We had Unemployment claims come in slightly above expectations but after factoring in the previous two weeks wide beats it all averages out to still be positive as of late.  We had other economic data and as always you can visit the Event’s Calendar for the release of economic data, scheduled meetings and other news that could move the market. With such a narrow day it…

Week in Review

DJIA +53.68 (+0.39%) to 13,649.70; S&P 500 +5.04 (+0.34%) to 1,485.98; NASDAQ -1.29 (-0.04%) to 3,134.71 Week economic data couldn’t put a damper on the S&P 500 which added onto Thursday’s decent gains.  The Nasdaq wasn’t able to join in on the party but had Apple Computers (AAPL), Intel (INTC) and Facebook (FB) as well as other weighing it down. We did have good economic data announced but not in the U.S., China reported GDP growth f 7.9% in Q4 which helped take the full year growth to 7.8% which outpaced consensus analyst expectations (7.7%) and the government’s expectations (7.5%)….

Daily Wrap

DJIA +18.89 (+0.14%) to 13,507.32; S&P 500 -1.37 (-0.09%) to 1,470.68; NASDAQ -8.14 (-0.26%) to 3,117.50 Technically it was a mixed day but who really cares about the Dow?  Today started and finished lower on the S&P but otherwise was very tight ranged spanning less than 6 points from low to high.  Ben Bernanke spoke just after the close but so far it seems to not have any effect as the futures are up less than 1 point after the close as I am typing. Today’s major stock of the day and has often been my stock of the day…

Charts of Interest

Thoughts and analysis are provided on each chart itself or you can go read some quick comments for each at StockTwits (WSConsensus) GMCR, ZIP, GT, DECK, QCOM, AL, AMD, SBUX, EXPD, GTAT, PCLN, TSLA, CIM, CEL, FSLR, RIMM, DISH, ABMD, PANW, RF