Paul Shread

Except for Monday’s big spike, the indexes have spent most of the last four days in a very narrow trading range. The Dow and S&P (first two charts below) remain trapped below their 200-day moving averages at 8355 and 883, respectively. Above those levels, 8500-8522 and 896-905 are major resistance. To the downside, 8250 and […]

Stocks traded in a narrow range Tuesday before closing modestly lower, as traders shifted their attention from the war in Iraq to corporate earnings and the economy. The Nasdaq lost 6 to 1382, the S&P 500 slipped 1 to 878, and the Dow lost 1 to 8298. Volume declined to 1.22 billion shares on the […]

A stunning reversal today, and the third straight day that a pre-market futures ramp has failed. Will it be the knockout blow for the rally? Except for the internals – which were very strong today – the picture appears pretty negative here. You don’t have to be a technician to call today’s action ugly. The […]

A strong rally on positive war news faded for the third straight day on Monday. The Nasdaq added 6 to 1389, the S&P 500 added 1 to 879, and the Dow gained 23 to 8300 – 220 points off its high for the day. Volume rose to 1.47 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.51 […]

A lot of mixed signals here, so we’ll start with two: charts and sentiment. The Dow and S&P (first four charts below) may be forming bearish broadening patterns in the intraday charts the last three days. On the other hand, sentiment is somewhat supportive here, with the VIX (fifth chart), the options volatility index, up […]

Stocks were mixed Friday on earnings warnings, rising unemployment and a threat by Iraq that U.S. troops may face “unconventional” tactics. The Nasdaq fell 13 to 1383, the S&P 500 climbed 2 to 878, and the Dow gained 36 to 8277. Volume declined to 1.23 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.36 billion on the […]

Stocks pulled back Thursday as allied troops approached Baghdad for what U.S. officials said could be a difficult battle. Weak service sector and initial jobless claims reports also weighed on stocks, as traders braced for Friday’s monthly unemployment report and the start of earnings season. The Nasdaq was unchanged at 1396, the S&P 500 fell […]

The indexes are stalling at some pretty key resistance levels here, not the least of which are the old necklines of head and shoulders tops on the Dow and S&P at 8250-8300 and 875-880 (see first two charts below). If the indexes can overtake those levels, the 200-day moving averages at 8370 and 885 are […]

IBM will be announcing major upgrades to its Tivoli storage management suite at next week’s developerWorks conference in New Orleans. The additional autonomic, self-managing functionality will reduce maintenance and training costs and will allow customers to manage 10 times the amount of storage with just one storage administrator, claims Paul Ellis of the Tivoli Storage […]

Stocks soared Wednesday as U.S. forces advanced toward Baghdad. The Nasdaq soared 48 to 1396, the S&P 500 surged 22 to 880, and the Dow soared 215 to 8285. Volume rose to 1.56 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.64 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 23-9 on the NYSE, and 22-9 on the Nasdaq. […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) put in a bullish island reversal today, gapping over a previous gap in the opposite direction to create an “island” at the recent lows. The minimum expected target for such a reversal would be the recent high at 1425. 1401 is first resistance, and 1368-1375 is support. The Dow and […]

IBM is joining the CERN openlab for DataGrid applications to help create a massive data-management system built on Grid computing. IBM’s storage virtualization and file management technology will play a key role in the collaboration, which aims to create a data file system “far larger than exists today” to help scientists at the renowned particle […]