Stocks Rally off The Lows of The Session Coming off the Christmas Weekend
December 28, 2010 | Comments Off
Heavy snow blankets the east coast, but fails to keep stocks at the lows
Traders in New York woke up to a huge pile of snow and a rate hike by the Chinese from Christmas day. Volume after the Christmas weekend was lower and was expected. It is not a secret traders take the week off and today’s action was just highlighted traders were off. Many travel stocks were hit as travel plans were hit hard by the blizzard. A few other leaders took to their 50 day moving averages, all in light volume, but it is never a good thing to see a few leaders taking to their 50 day moving average. Buyers took to the market and scooped up shares pushing the NASDAQ and S&P 500 into positive territory. Not a perfect day, but it was a positive signal to see the market push off the lows and close green.
Market Closes Higher Again, but Trade Falls
December 22, 2010 | Comments Off
Trade falls as stocks rise hitting new 52 week highs. The big story of the day was the S&P 500 regaining the same level when Lehman Brothers collapsed. It is hard to believe it has taken over two years to recapture the same levels, but it has been the Federal Reserve printing money rather than robust economic growth pushing the market higher. However, it is hard to argue with the gains we continue to see from the market and today was no exception. With a few leading stocks pushing higher this market remains in an uptrend and we continue to ride it higher.
Tomorrow we’ll see GDP numbers for the third quarter along with Personal Consumption. It’ll be interesting to see the government adjust their figures, but barring a huge shift in the number the market will more than likely shrug off the news. End of December tends to be bullish for stocks, much like last year we have set up to run into the new year on new highs rather than a weak market. This despite all the overbought and complacent signals we have been witness to this market continues to ignore it. In addition, we have USA Today telling its readers it is time to get back into stocks. No top just yet.
Holiday Shortened Week Kicks off With Gains in Light Trade
December 20, 2010 | Comments Off
A double dose of POMO props up stock prices
A quiet day on the economic release front as the Federal Reserve gives the market a double dose of Permenant Open Market Operations buying of United States Treasury securities. Over the past few days the trend has been the market gapping to the upside only to see the gapped filled by mid-morning. An intraday rally to the highs follows only to see some gains evaporate by the end the day. Today was no different coming off quadruple witching Friday with volume lower and stocks ending off their highs of the day, but in green territory. So far, POMO continues to prop up this market despite overbought signals and lack of upside volume.
Visa and MasterCard Fall as the Market Rises
December 17, 2010 | Comments Off
Volume slides as stocks close just off the highs of the day
Volume stumbles ahead of quadruple witching Friday, but stocks rebounded. Stocks began weak as a better than expected jobless claim figures failed to spark futures. POMO appeared to be the key driver for stock prices during the mid-morning hours. By noon time the highs of the day were essentially set in stone and stocks traded sideways for the remainder of the day. Volume was running higher throughout the morning, but as the afternoon wore on volume sank. Price action was solid with the indexes closing just off the highs of the session, but lacking volume does add a negative element to the day.
Sellers Take Control as the Market Ends in the Red
December 16, 2010 | Comments Off
Tame inflation data and better expected manufacturing day did very little supporting stocks as sellers jumped back into the market. The market did find buyers pushing the market to its highs prior to the noon hour. Volume was non-existent as the volume run rate ran significantly lower than Tuesday’s pace as buyers did not find much company. Running out of steam sellers took over and ran all over bulls for the remainder of the day. We are beginning to see cracks in the market’s armor with a few leaders breaking key support levels. Today was another warning signal being shot across the bow as this market is about to pull back.
Stocks Escape Distribution, but Leaders Weaken a Bit
December 15, 2010 | Comments Off
The market gets a late day save as the NASDAQ escapes back to back distribution days as the Federal Reserve rate announcement induces volatility. In the early going the market did stumble, but buyers stepped up and supported stocks prior to the Federal Reserve rate announcement. Stocks spent the majority of time heading sideways prior to the rate announcement. Then came the volatility, the Federal Reserved announced its decisions and stocks went into a volatile mode. By 3:30pm EST it appeared stocks were headed for a deep dive. However, buyers stepped up and saved the market, especially the NASDAQ from back to back days of distribution. Despite the market avoiding distribution today was another day of stalling and a bit of underlying weakness casting doubt on the current uptrend.
Stocks Fall in Late Trade Ahead of the Federal Reserve
December 14, 2010 | Comments Off
Last hour selling puts the brakes on the current uptrend as volume ends mixed. The Federal Open Market Committee began its meetings today as they mull over rate decisions as well as its current quantitative easing strategy. Volume ended mixed, but was below average. Monday’s have been light on volume and today was no exception. The reversal on the NASDAQ did give the index a distribution day, but it also was another sign of stalling. This is the second time in a week we saw the NASDAQ gap higher and reverse in heavier trade. Despite the reversal on the NASDAQ the current uptrend remains intact.
Volume Climbs as Stocks Add to Gains
December 10, 2010 | Comments Off
A better than expect jobless claims figure helped boost stocks at the open. Claims fell to 421,000 and continuing claims fell to 4,086,000. Futures picked up some steam heading into the open providing a decent size gap. Volume exploded out of the gate, AIG helped with the NYSE volume to start, but the volume run rate tapered off as the day progressed. NASDAQ volume shot up and faded, but closed higher on the day as the market closed about the mid-point of the day. Near the close PIMCO raised its growth forecast for the market giving stocks a push at the close.
PIMCO’s upward revision of growth forecast should not come as a big surprise as earlier this year the dominate bond market player launched an equity shop. Higher growth for the United States will certainly increase inflationary pressures putting strain on the bond market. The firm will not want to lose its assets because they do not have an equity shop as money will flow from bonds to equities. It is hard to gauge whether or not the firm is talking its own book or do they really believe there will be higher growth. Speculation of this sort does not help us out one bit and why it is more important to view the action of the market. Tune out the noise, stick with the market action.
Stocks Finish Higher as Volume Lags
December 8, 2010 | Comments Off
Stocks shake off early morning selling to close just off the highs of the session. After yesterday’s negative reversal on high volume stocks recovered today even as sellers took to the market during the early part of the morning. Volume fell across the board, but yesterday’s volume in Citigroup has muddied the waters in terms of NYSE volume. On the NASDAQ volume fell after yesterday’s big jump in volume. Stocks were able to close just off the highs of the session putting a bullish spin on the day’s session.
For the sixth straight session the NASDAQ has closed in positive territory. Constructive consolidation would be for the index to pull back in light volume while market leaders holding steady. The market doesn’t move in straight lines and it would benefit us greatly to see the market undergo a normal pull back or a natural reaction to the recent run-up.
The equity put/call ratio, something we have avoided to talk about for quite awhile closed the day at .50. Usually this is a signal of complacency and will bring on a bit of selling. But, yesterday’s equity put/call finished below .50 at .47. Call volumes have been through the roof as bullish bets have been placed on equities. So far, the index has proven very little in terms of nailing a top, but it does highlight the bullishness in the market.
Stocks Stage Reversal as Volume Soars
December 7, 2010 | Comments Off
Current market rally stalls on volume
A brokered deal in Washington on tax cuts and the unemployment extension helped boost futures in the morning. Stocks jumped at the open only to face selling pushing stocks to lows by mid day. Volume on the NYSE was lifted by Citigroup after the government unloaded its remaining shares of the company. Citigroup traded 3.26 billion shares accounting for the majority of the change in volume on the NYSE. However, on the NASDAQ volume jumped more than 18%. The market at the end of the day looked poised to push into the highs of the day before the 3 o’clock hour. Rumors on the street of more insider trading probes helped sellers dump stock on the market. By the end of the day stocks finished on the lows putting in a terrible stall day.
