Paul Shread

The indexes continue to chew through big resistance levels in this impressive start to the new year. The Dow (first chart below) finally cleared the 11,000 barrier today, albeit weakly, and the S&P (second chart) has now taken out all of its two-year trendline resistance. The question now is how much higher can momentum move […]

Shares of IBM and Juniper lost ground Monday, even as the major indexes pushed to fresh 4 1/2-year highs. J.P. Morgan sent Big Blue to a 1.4% loss on concerns about the company’s services and hardware sales. Goldman Sachs said it thought concern about IBM’s services business was overblown when it upgraded the stock last […]

The major indexes are all pushing some very big levels here, starting with the S&P (first chart below) which is pushing the very top of a two-year resistance line at about 1285; that line should be a few points higher next week. Above that, 1300 and 1316 are the next big levels. To the downside, […]

Stocks rallied to new 4 1/2-year highs Friday, boosted by a weaker than expected jobs report that fueled hopes that the Federal Reserve will soon stop raising interest rates. The Nasdaq closed above 2300 for the first time since May 2001, helped by several analyst upgrades. Yahoo and Google gained 3-4% on positive comments from […]

Accenture got the earnings season off to a promising start by posting better than expected results after the bell on Thursday. Accenture’s earnings of 36 cents a share beat Wall Street estimates by two cents. Sales climbed 12% to $4.17 billion, also ahead of forecasts. The company’s March sales guidance was a little shy of […]

A big test coming up for the S&P (first chart below), which is once again nearing its two-year resistance line at about 1278-1283. The index has been repelled at that line for the last seven weeks; will this time be different? To the downside, 1268, 1260 and 1246-1250 are support. The Nasdaq (second chart) faces […]

Quite a turnaround for stocks today, with the S&P (first chart below) once again nearing its two-year resistance line at 1280-1285. Can the index clear it this time? We’d note one negative here — bulls in the Investors Intelligence survey last week reached 60%, a level that has occurred near intermediate-term tops over the last […]

Stocks rocketed higher Tuesday after Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggested that the Fed’s 18-month campaign of interest rate hikes may finally be nearing an end. Stocks were flat when the news hit at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, and the Nasdaq and S&P were 1.7% higher by the time the first trading day of 2006 ended […]

Note: The Technical Analysis column will return Jan. 3. Happy holidays and best wishes for a prosperous 2006! A nice move for the Nasdaq (first chart below) today, which is now back above that critical trendline that sits at 2235. That level is first support, with 2220, 2213, 2206 and 2200 below that. Resistance is […]

Better than expected results from Research in Motion and Red Hat put investors in a holiday mood on Thursday. RIM shares jumped 10.6% after the company’s results and guidance beat Wall Street estimates. The only downside was that the company’s subscriber growth suffered somewhat from its high-profile patent battle with NTP, but investors were cheered […]

Another day, another struggle at resistance for the major indexes. The Nasdaq (first chart below) actually made it back above major resistance at 2235 before falling back. Support on the index is 2220 and 2213. The S&P (second chart) faces first resistance at 1270 and 1277-1282, and support is 1257 and 1246-1250. The Dow (third […]

Research in Motion and Red Hat posted quarterly results late Wednesday that surpassed Wall Street expectations. RIM showed little effect from its patent battle with NTP, reporting earnings of 71 cents a share on a 53% jump in sales, handily beating estimates, and the company raised February quarter guidance too. RIM added 645,000 subscribers in […]