Stocks End Mixed, After The Three Day Weekend; Leading Stocks Outperform Again.

January 17, 2007

There was no news to move the market today and I guess because of that lack of news and the ice storm hitting the mainland USA, stocks turned in a boring and choppy non-volatile day with the Nasdaq trading in an 11 point range. When it was all said and done the early morning strength gave way to a mixed close.

At the close, the DJIA was the leader, hitting another all-time high, with a .2% gain, the SP 500 followed with a .1% gain, the Nasdaq closed with a .2% loss, and the SP 600 led the way down with a .3% loss. Leading stocks fared a bit better, with many top IBD stocks making significant gains.

Volume on the Nasdaq was slightly higher than Friday’s levels. On the NYSE, volume was slightly lower. Breadth was negative, overall, with decliners over advancers by an 8-to-7 margin.

Even though the volume was higher on the Nasdaq today, it still was a perfect pullback. Today’s pullback did not even cut into half of Friday’s gains and volume showed no sign of truly picking up. A 1% increase in trading is nothing to get nervous about. This was a very productive pullback to a very strong up-trending index.

Oil fell again today and at one point dipped below $51. I just love this news and love what it has done to the market. Everyone thought falling oil would hurt stocks. Instead it has unleashed a tsunami of accumulation of tech and biotech related stocks. Many many other sectors are feeling the blessings of lower oil and money rotating out of the commodities.

This low oil also acts as the best weapon against a crazy nut-case like Iranian President Ahmadinejad. This low oil helps deplete his fascist regime from gaining quick access to a lot of money from the world oil market. Combine that with the way the Iranian oil facilities are being taken care of and it might be a long time till this idiot gets what he wants. Even if he does, God willing, Israel will send them back to the 7th century.

Bottom line: A 16% drop in oil this year is a positive for stocks and the world.

Earnings season is amongst us, once again. SYMC cut 3Q and had poor 4Q assets. But as I stated on the Google message board of SYMC, this stock has flashed multiple distribution days as it neared the old October 2005 highs. The Friday breakdown was the get out signal. After today, you would be a complete gambling fool to be long this stock.

INTC came out with numbers after the bell that were OK. The stock is holding well and if the chart is any indication this stock was probably going to rally no matter what the earnings were. Unless, it missed or beat by a WHOPPING amount. We knew that wasn’t going to happen.

That chart’s trend is up and when that is the case, normally bad news is treated like good news. It is when good news gets treated like bad news that something is terribly wrong. So far all is well.

Tomorrow’s big boy on the earnings front is AAPL. The trend is up in that stock also, and unless they miss big any news should be treated well. If AAPL breaks below that 86.45 level, then you should think about taking some of that 600% gain off the table.

I don’t know what else to talk about. I went on a whale watch and saw two whales fight for an hour. That was extremely exciting. MUCH MORE exciting than today’s market. It looks like I made the right choice.

Aloha and I will see you here - in my chat room.

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