Paul Shread

The market continues to defy gravity here, but with the rally turning choppy and internals eroding, the indexes could face a correction in the coming weeks. Still, with more positive inflation news likely in the next few days, the indexes could continue to chop higher for now, but this is also the time of year […]

Stocks rose Friday on a tame consumer inflation report that reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates for now. Stocks neared multi-year highs before pulling back to close with modest gains, weighed down by weakness in the auto sector. The Federal Reserve meets again Wednesday to set interest rate policy, a […]

Lots of indecision today ahead of tomorrow’s CPI report and expiry, with the S&P and Dow (first two charts below) putting in “inside days” completely within yesterday’s trading range. One negative we’d note is that internals — advance-declines and up/down volume — were much weaker than the indexes, a sign of eroding support here. The […]

Shares of Adobe Systems jumped 7% in late trading Thursday after the company issued third-quarter results that beat Wall Street forecasts. Adobe’s sales grew 24% to $602 million, $7 million above estimates. Pro forma earnings of 29 cents a share — which exclude charges related to the acquisition of Macromedia — were three cents better […]

The market’s impressive strength continues, but can the indexes push to new highs in the toughest months of the year? Even 1986, the last strong mid-term year, had a tough September. The S&P (first chart below) ran into a rising resistance line that has capped rallies since early August; that makes 1320 important resistance here, […]

Tech stocks continued their recovery from their summer swoon on Wednesday, closing at their highest level in four months. The Nasdaq, which moved back into positive territory for the year on Tuesday, notched another recovery milestone Wednesday when it crossed its 200-day moving average for the first time since mid-May. The market rally comes amid […]

The S&P (first chart below) must have missed the memo about September being the weakest month of the year, because the index negated a pair of bearish patterns today. Once 1303 went, a test of 1309 resistance became likely, but even that couldn’t stop the index for long. The one thing that has propped up […]

Chip stocks led a broad stock market rally on Tuesday. Analyst upgrades of Applied Materials , Broadcom and AMD — along with Dell’s unveiling of AMD-based desktops — and in-line guidance from Texas Instruments sent the chip sector to a 3.8% gain on the day. HP gained 1.5% after chairwoman Patricia Dunn stepped down in […]

The S&P (first chart below) could be forming a head-and-shoulders top over the last few weeks, and coming on the heels of last week’s uptrend break too: a couple of patterns favoring the bears here. A move above 1303 could negate the head-and-shoulders top, but 1309 looks like rock-solid resistance for now. 1289-1291 is important […]

Texas Instruments had no surprises for investors after the close on Monday, and that’s exactly how they responded. TI shares were unchanged after hours after the company said it expects to meet third-quarter estimates, more or less. The company’s shares had gained 2.5% ahead of the mid-quarter update. TI said it expects revenues of $3.71-$3.87 […]

Today’s bounce didn’t come close to resistance and internals were uninspiring, but Monday could see some more upside. The Dow and S&P (first two charts below) are some distance still from back-testing their breakdowns of the last two days, as the round numbers of 11,400 and 1300 stopped today’s rally. The Dow faces resistance at […]

Stocks rebounded Friday after a two-day sell-off on fears of slowing growth and rising inflation. Helping brighten the mood was a more market-friendly view on inflation from Cleveland Fed president Sandra Pianalto, and falling oil prices also helped traders’ moods. Even HP shares managed a solid gain on the day despite a widening leak scandal […]