Stocks End Mixed On Higher Volume; Leading Stocks Still Lagging
April 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Stocks got off to a good start on the back of a lot of different economic numbers and some earnings announcements from some members of the DJIA.
The day started out with the CPI data. The CPI increased .6% in March in-line with expectations, thanks to a 5.9% increase in energy cost. That was the biggest increase since last April. The core CPI was up only .1%, also in-line with expectations. The bad news from these numbers is that the core CPI is now up 2.5% YOY. That is above the comfort zone of 1%-2% for the Fed. Read more
Bulls Fight Off The Bears, Once Again, As Stocks Rally On Lower Volume To Close At Their HOD
April 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment
The recent theme of this market has been that all economic news is moving the market. This may be due to the fact that less institutional investors are around to make bets on stocks (the low volume confirms this) but still the fact that the market is so easily moved around shows just how uneasy and unsure investors are. Today was no different.
Early in the morning we received the latest PPI report that showed a 1% jump in March after February’s 1.3% gain. It was the core PPI, however, that had the positive impact on stocks as the core remained flat compared to expectations of a .2% increase. This, along with the earnings from GE, helped get stocks off to a positive start. But those gains were soon eliminated after the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey fell to 85.3 in April from 88.4 in March, below expectations of 87.5, echoing the IBD/TIPP poll released earlier this month.
Proving, though, that the dip-buyers are still in complete control, right after that selloff, stocks found a bottom. Stocks then rallied for the rest of the session closing near or at their intraday highs. The rally picked up steam after comments from Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher made comments about how globalization is helping raise world productivity that in-effect has positive pricing pressure consequences for the USA. That was good enough to bring in the retail crowd. The rally was well along, when a little before 3pm EST the Chief Development/Operating Officer of CSCO said that Cisco’s customers were at the early stages of a new upgrade cycle. That helped give the Nasdaq a huge jolt sending it to its HOD.
Stocks Rally, Again On Lower Volume, As Indexes Hit All-Time And Six Year Highs; Speculation Runs Wild
April 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment
It was a big day for the bulls and a painful day for the shorts, as stocks gapped higher on the back of great earnings out of C, WB, and LLY, news of a $25 billion sale of SLM, strong retail sales in the month of March that topped expectations, and on the back of the Shanghai index being up 2.2% overnight. All of this was good enough to then send stocks rallying the rest of the day, helping the indexes close at or near their HOD. Read more
Bulls Fight Off The Bears, Once Again, As Stocks Rally On Lower Volume To Close At Their HOD
April 14, 2007 | Leave a Comment
The recent theme of this market has been that all economic news is moving the market. This may be due to the fact that less institutional investors are around to make bets on stocks (the low volume confirms this) but still the fact that the market is so easily moved around shows just how uneasy and unsure investors are. Today was no different. Read more
Dip Buyers Take Advantage Of Yesterday’s Selloff; Volume Comes In Lower Than Yesterday, Dampening The Gains
April 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Stocks got off to a weak start off the back of RIMM’s Q4 results that came in below expectations, Q1 profit warnings from some retailers after March same-store-sales were released, and bad news from the unemployment claims showing that they rose for the second straight time and rose larger than anticipated. This started a selloff that seemed to be picking up steam when all of a sudden the dip buyers showed up again bidding stocks higher all day long until the close. That dip buying was given credit to a rise in crude oil prices to $63.85 a barrel and new that Nestle agreed to buy baby food marker Gerber from drug maker NVS. Read more
Possible Stagflation?; Stocks Lose Ground On Higher Volume, Giving The Market Its Second Distribution Day
April 12, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Stocks started the day weak on the back of data from the NAR announcing that they expected existing home sales to fall in 2007-the first drop in 38 yrs-and also see lower existing and new home sales in the short term. That combined with higher gas prices weighed on stocks early. But once again the dip buyers showed up and started to bid stocks higher. That was until the Fed March meeting minutes came out at 2pm. That promptly sent stocks to new lows on the day before they received a minor bid into the close. Read more
Stocks Rally Again And Close Near Their HOD, On Stronger Volume; Volume Well Below The 50 Day Volume Average
April 11, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Stocks performed the same way as they have been recently, with the markets gapping up, selling off, and then finding dip-buyers to help bring them off their lows and sending them near their highs by the close. All of this happened despite a very healthy amount of bad news from the housing and mortgage industry. Almost half of my links that I received today involved stories about the housing and lending markets. However, stocks digested the data and did what they have been doing recently rallying the rest of the day. Read more
Traders Take An Extra Day Off; Stocks Dance Around And Close Basically Flat, On Slightly Higher Volume.
April 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Stock investors returned from a long three-day Easter weekend to a very inactive market. Even though trading was pretty wild, choppy and volatile today, the market still traded in a very narrow range and basically did not move from Thursday’s close. Read more
HAPPY EASTER!!!, HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY!!!, AND HAPPY PESACH (PASSOVER)!!!; Stocks End Short Week With More Gains On Light Trade
April 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Stocks started the morning off with a gap lower on the back of a currency tightening measures in China. But after the gap lower, stocks steadily climbed higher on very quiet trade for the rest of the day. That reversal off the gap lower was caused by the Labor Department announcing that jobless claims this week fell within forecast. Those jobless claims this week rose by 11,000 to 321,000.
Also helping to lift stocks was a couple of merger and acquisition related announcements. Kirk Kerkorian has made a $4.5 billion bid for DCX and WEBM agreed to be acquired by Software AG. WEBM rose 27% on the announcement. This now puts the 1Q M&A deals up 27% over this time last year. $1.1 trillion worth of M&A deals this year has us on pace to beat last years record. More amazing is private equity deals. Those have risen 47%, year-over-year in 2007 so far.
Combine the positive jobless claims with the M&A deals, and with most traders taking Thursday off to have a very long weekend, and you had a recipe perfect for higher stock prices, despite oil climbing back over $64 on the news that the EIA saying that oil inventories declined for the eight-week in a row.
HAPPY EASTER!!!, HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY!!!, AND HAPPY PESACH (PASSOVER)!!!; Stocks End Short Week With More Gains On Light Trade
April 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Stocks started the morning off with a gap lower on the back of a currency tightening measures in China. But after the gap lower, stocks steadily climbed higher on very quiet trade for the rest of the day. That reversal off the gap lower was caused by the Labor Department announcing that jobless claims this week fell within forecast. Those jobless claims this week rose by 11,000 to 321,000. Read more
