Paul Shread

The Dow (first chart below) is running out of room and will have to decide soon which way it is going to break. Support is 7850-7855 and 7775, and resistance is 7950 and 8000. The S&P (second chart) also looks to be winding up for a big move, with resistance at 847-852 and support at […]

Stocks posted only modest gains Friday despite better than expected consumer confidence and economic reports, as traders turned their focus to a UN Security Council meeting on Saturday. The Nasdaq rose 13 to 1337, the S&P 500 gained 3 to 841, and the Dow added 6 to 7891. Volume rose to 1.3 billion shares on […]

Stocks rose Thursday after the U.S. lowered the terrorism warning level and Iraq said it would comply with a UN demand to destroy missiles. Economic reports were mixed, with durable orders beating estimates, but jobless claims remained high and new home sales tumbled. The Nasdaq rose 20 to 1323, the S&P 500 gained 9 to […]

The Dow (first chart below) was stopped at its January downtrend line today. A move above that line at 7900 tomorrow could target major resistance just below 8000. 7750 is critical support. The S&P (second chart) has tough resistance at 842-844 and then 852. 824 is critical support. The Nasdaq (third chart) hit that tough […]

Hewlett-Packard dragged stocks lower Wednesday after missing revenue estimates, and another day of rising international tensions didn’t help. The Nasdaq fell 25 to 1303, the S&P 500 lost 11 to 827, and the Dow dropped 102 to 7806. Volume declined to 1.34 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.21 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led […]

Western Digital’s recent announcement that it is entering the enterprise hard drive market with a Serial ATA (SATA) product could be the start of sizeable inroads into the storage market for the new interface technology. Western Digital said the Enterprise Serial ATA (ESATA) hard drive, called WD Raptor, offers systems builders and storage vendors enterprise-class […]

With lower highs and higher lows, the market is truly trendless here. That could also mean symmetrical triangles, or narrowing price ranges, which the Dow and S&P (first two charts below) may be forming here. Resistance on the Dow is 7950, 8010, 8076 and 8150, and support is 7740-7750. Resistance on the S&P is 843-844 […]

Tuesday was another volatile day in the stock market, as steep losses on international tensions and plunging consumer confidence turned into gains on reports that Russia may be trying to broker a peace between Iraq and the U.S. The Nasdaq climbed 6 to 1328, the S&P 500 gained 5 to 838, and the Dow rose […]

The Dow Transports (first chart below) are just above their October 2002 (2008) and September 2001 (1942) lows. The inability of the Trannies to follow the Dow to new lows has been a positive for the market, but this time the Transports are leading to the downside. New lows in that index would be bearish […]

The indexes are retesting their highs set earlier this week. The Dow (first chart below) is lagging, still some distance from Tuesday’s 8076 high. If it can clear that, it could hit critical 8150 resistance. To the downside, the index has support at 7850, and 7750 is critical. The S&P (second chart) would form a […]

Stocks surged Friday on a tame consumer inflation report and comments by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that U.S. troops are ready to invade Iraq. The Nasdaq rose 17 to 1349, the S&P 500 gained 11 to 848, and the Dow rose 103 to 8018. Volume rose to 1.37 billion shares on the NYSE, […]

Thursday was like a trip back to the 1970s for the stock market, as several economic reports showed inflation and unemployment rising and the economy stalling. The Nasdaq slipped 3 to 1331, the S&P 500 lost 8 to 837, and the Dow fell 85 to 7914. Volume rose to 1.18 billion shares on the NYSE, […]