Paul Shread

An impressive recovery today. The Dow (first chart below) looks like the index to watch here: below 10,417 and a top could be in, while a failure to take out 10,602 to the upside would be a negative. The Nasdaq (second chart) faces resistance at 2138-2145 and 2160, and support is 2110-2115 and 2090-2100 (2097). […]

Comments from National Semiconductor that its inventory woes are almost behind it turned around an early stock market sell-off on Thursday. “Most of the inventory reductions in the distribution channel are behind us,” National Semi CEO Brian Halla said in announcing that the company had beaten Wall Street earnings and revenue estimates. The chip sector, […]

The market is trying to right itself after yesterday’s high-volume sell-off, but it’s not getting off to the greatest start, with poor internals today. The Nasdaq (first chart below) faces resistance at 2132, 2140-2150 and 2160, and support is 2110 and 2090-2100. 1176 is shaping up to be an important support level on the S&P […]

Uninspiring guidance from Texas Instruments and a sector downgrade from Bank of America sent chip stocks sprawling on Wednesday. Texas Instruments reaffirmed fourth-quarter guidance after the close on Tuesday, but cited “a market environment characterized by ongoing inventory adjustments.” After surprisingly strong guidance from Intel last week, investors may have been looking for more from […]

Hitachi Data Systems is taking a higher-end approach to the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market. HDS unveiled the new Hitachi Thunder 9520V Workgroup Modular Storage system, a serial ATA (SATA) version of its midrange Thunder systems. At about $22,000-$24,000 for a 3.4 TB solution, the 9520V offers software and features found in HDS’ midrange […]

Tuesday was a big day for IT industry outlooks, with Cisco , HP and Texas Instruments among the tech companies updating analysts. The biggest revelation of the day came from HP CEO Carly Fiorina, who said the company’s board of directors had considered splitting up the company, but unanimously rejected the idea each time it […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) continues to hold up well, finding buyers with every dip. The lack of a broad-based retreat at its 2153 recovery high is another positive. Resistance is 2153-2165, while an uptrend line at 2138 is first support, with 2132 and 2120 below that. The S&P 500 (second chart) is showing more […]

Upgrades to Apple and AMD pushed the Nasdaq near its highs for the year on Monday. Apple gained 5% after Bear Stearns upgraded the stock and set a $72 price target. Apple could gain from sales of an expected flash memory-based iPod, the firm said, adding that iPod sales could also boost Mac sales. JP […]

After a six-week post-election rally, Friday’s jobs report delivered a reminder that the economy still faces headwinds. If the market is looking for a reason to correct, it now has one. On the other hand, if the rally can continue despite today’s sobering news, that would be one more impressive sign of strength. For now, […]

Intel’s better than expected guidance boosted chip stocks on Friday, but a weaker than expected November jobs report reminded investors that the economy continues to face headwinds. Intel rose 5% after the chip giant raised revenue estimates well above expectations and said it is making progress on its year-long inventory problem. The news sent the […]

EMC and Network Appliance turned in impressive performances in the third quarter, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker. EMC led the external disk storage systems market for the third consecutive quarter with 21.2% revenue share, driven by 17.4% year-over-year revenue growth for the quarter. HP, with a revenue decline of 7.5% year […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) took on its 2153 recovery high today and came up short, but Intel’s surprisingly strong guidance after hours should give the index another run at that level tomorrow if the November jobs report doesn’t contain any negative surprises. Above 2156, the index could find major resistance in the 2200-2300 range. […]