Paul Shread

The Baby Bells ignited speculation in telecom equipment companies this week when they agreed on standards for local optical networks. Although analysts cautioned that the cash-strapped Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) may not be able to afford the widespread replacement of copper wires to the home with fiber optics, nonetheless the agreement by Verizon , […]

The Nasdaq and S&P (first four charts below) ran into some major resistance levels today. The indexes once again put in some uninspiring candlesticks, with the Dow (fifth chart) looking like an outright reversal, but this rally has turned back up on similar set-ups. End of the month window dressing is a possibility, but with […]

Microsoft and AOL settled their antitrust dispute after the bell on Thursday. AOL rose 3% after hours on the wide-ranging settlement, while shares of Microsoft slipped. The antitrust lawsuit was filed by AOL on behalf of Netscape in January 2002. The seven-year pact allows AOL to use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browsing technology for free, and […]

With doji stars and gravestone doji stars at major resistance areas, the market looks set for a pullback here. The S&P (first two charts) made a nice run at the major resistance area of 954-965. Support is 946-950, 935 and 925. The Dow (third chart) stalled under 8870 resistance and the major 8931.68 level. Support […]

The Microsoft rumor mill has been an accurate one lately. Microsoft stock has sold off in recent weeks on rumors of insider selling and pending price cuts. Last Friday, the company announced heavy selling by CEO Steve Ballmer. And today, Microsoft announced price cuts to Office XP and individual Office applications. The thought of Microsoft […]

AOL Time Warner stock edged higher Tuesday on a report that former chairman Steve Case has talked privately about spinning off the AOL unit. Case’s comments, reported by the New York Times, may just reflect frustration over his waning influence at the company, but they have also been echoed by fellow board member Ted Turner, […]

Looking over the charts from this week, the most striking feature is that the indexes have barely recovered half of Monday’s big decline. With the indexes forming possible bear flags or pennants, that suggests to us that there may be at least one more leg down to the correction. All the indexes had dojis today, […]

After days of being hounded by rumors of insider selling, Microsoft ‘fessed up on Friday. Microsoft confirmed in a statement Friday that CEO Steve Ballmer is selling some of his holdings of Microsoft stock “to gain some diversification of his financial assets.” Before taking into account recent sales, Ballmer held 470,968,074 shares of Microsoft stock, […]

With too many puts and decent internals, there could be more upside to this rally, or at least not too much downside. The Nasdaq (see first chart below) has redrawn its uptrend line, making support 1495-1496 if 1500 can’t hold. Resistance is 1521 and 1530-1534. The Dow (second chart) took out 8522-8530 and 8550 resistance […]

The Nasdaq gained more than 1% on Thursday, but the biggest technology stocks were curiously absent from the rally. Microsoft , Dell , Intel and IBM combined to finish flat on the day, while only Cisco managed to keep pace with the index. Leading the rally were eBay , Yahoo , Amazon and the USA […]

HP surged 5% Wednesday on results that beat Wall Street expectations. Much of HP’s success was due to a 13% increase in its core Imaging and Printing group – a business recently targeted by Dell. HP, with 55% of revenues from overseas, also likely benefited from a 22% decline in the U.S. dollar from the […]

Merrill Lynch analysts held an unusual bull-bear debate on tech stocks Tuesday. Richard McCabe, Merrill’s chief technical analyst, said tech stocks could rally 50% from current levels in the coming months. But Merrill technology analyst Steven Milunovich has no plans to go along for the ride. Milunovich said he is keeping tech stocks at a […]