Paul Shread

Another rough day for stocks. The Nasdaq (first chart below) broke its 200-day moving average today. The next major support levels are at 1970 and 1940-1950, and resistance is 1993, 2000, 2008, 2023 and 2038. On the plus side, in that chart, 14-day RSI is at its most oversold level since the January low. The […]

Oracle beat Wall Street estimates and raised guidance after the close on Tuesday, but the stock was little changed in after-hours trading. On a GAAP basis (generally accepted accounting principles), Oracle’s earnings declined year-over-year from 12 to 10 cents a share due to charges related to the company’s acquisition of PeopleSoft. Excluding those items, Oracle’s […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) bounced at obvious support today, its 200-day moving average, ending back at the unchanged level (and its January low) by the close. Resistance is 2023, 2030 and 2038 — and that’s just a start — and support is 2000 and 1993. Below 1993, 1970 and 1950 support come into range. […]

Oracle’s earnings and another expected interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve could make Tuesday an eventful day for investors. Inflation data will also play a key role this week, with wholesale inflation data due out before the market opens on Tuesday and the consumer price index following on Wednesday morning. The Federal Reserve will […]

IBM will launch new services next month to help businesses backup and retrieve critical data for faster recovery from a disaster or outage. IBM’s new Electronic Data Management Services employ online, disk-based storage and retrieval systems as an alternative to the tape-based systems that have dominated corporate backup processes for decades. The services integrate backup, […]

Nothing like an options expiry Friday combined with an S&P rebalancing for a little high-volume volatility, but at least it ended in a reversal attempt with an extremely high put-call reading. We’ll see if the bulls can build on that start next week. The Nasdaq (first chart below) broke its January low of 2008, bounced […]

The Nasdaq hit a new low for the year on Friday, but at least Adobe and Jabil gave investors something to smile about. The stocks of those companies gained 6% each after they reported earnings and guidance late Thursday that exceeded Wall Street forecasts. PalmOne , meanwhile, fell 8% after the company warned that results […]

Adobe continued its strong run after the close on Thursday by beating Wall Street estimates and raising guidance once again. PalmOne , meanwhile, continued a streak of its own by warning that results will come in well below expectations for the second straight quarter. Adobe reported pro forma earnings of 53 cents a share, 3 […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) broke down out of a multi-month symmetrical triangle today. 2008 is the last hope for the index to hang onto its trading range, although 1992-2000 could also be strong support. The index needs to get back above 2033 to reverse today’s breakdown. The S&P (second chart) continued its move down […]

Verizon went on the offensive Wednesday, criticizing rival Qwest’s bid for MCI . Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg criticized Qwest’s finances and called into question Qwest’s financial projections for a merger with MCI. “Explaining in the future the failure to have delivered on exaggerated promises of synergies is understandably preferable to the stark reality of its […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) is sitting right on critical support at 2032-2033. If that goes, 2023 and 2008 are the next support levels, but the index would look pretty broken. Resistance is 2063 and 2100. The S&P (second chart) broke its October uptrend today. The next support levels are 1195, 1190 and 1185, and […]

Cautious comments from Merrill Lynch sent chip stocks into a 2% tailspin on Tuesday. Merrill analyst Joe Osha said the chip sector lacks the elements for a sustained advance, and he predicted that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index will remain range-bound for the rest of the year. “A real upturn in the semiconductor business requires a […]