Paul Shread

Microsoft announced a surprise dividend and stock split after the close on Thursday, but the software giant also missed revenue estimates and warned. IBM and eBay delivered better than expected results. Stocks struggled during the day on the growing specter of war with Iraq, as UN inspectors found empty chemical warheads. The Nasdaq fell 14 […]

Stocks fell across the board Wednesday on lukewarm earnings reports and an unexpected drop in producer prices. Yahoo and QLogic traded lower after the close despite topping estimates. The Nasdaq fell 22 to 1438, the S&P 500 lost 13 to 918, and the Dow dropped 119 to 8723. Volume rose to 1.38 billion shares on […]

Clear breakdowns today on rising volume; nothing neutral about the chart picture today. We’ll start with the few positives: the equity-only put-call ratio at .75 is showing a lot more skepticism, and internals were okay under the circumstances, including a rise in new highs, a plus on a down day. But otherwise the picture here […]

Intel beat earnings and revenue estimates after the close on Tuesday, but slashed capex spending and said it expects revenues to decline sequentially. During the day, the Nasdaq rose 14 to 1460, the S&P 500 gained 5 to 931, and the Dow climbed 56 to 8842. Volume was unchanged at 1.36 billion shares on the […]

A lukewarm report from Intel tonight, but IBM’s and Microsoft’s reports on Thursday night will probably be more important. Intel’s capex spending cuts could hurt chip equipment stocks, however, which are weighted heavily in the SOX, the semiconductor index (first chart below). With the SOX in danger of forming a head and shoulders top here, […]

Stocks started strong on Monday but ended the day unchanged, as investors awaited key earnings later this week from Intel, IBM and Microsoft. The Nasdaq slipped 1 to 1446, the S&P 500 was down 1 to 926, and the Dow tacked on a point to 8785. Volume declined to 1.36 billion shares on the NYSE, […]

Buying the dip returned on Friday, as stocks managed to finish up despite the worst unemployment report in a year and North Korea’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The Nasdaq gained 9 to 1447, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 927, and the Dow tacked on 8 to 8784. Volume declined to 1.48 billion […]

A classic battle of buyers versus sellers is going on in the market here. On one hand are the strong new money inflows that typically occur in the first few weeks of January. And on the other hand are motivated sellers at very obvious resistance levels. The inflows and the market’s ability to bounce back […]

The one positive is that the market has put in two follow-through days this week – but run into the same major resistance level each time. The problem with the market topping out at current levels would be that the Dow, S&P and the semiconductor index (first three charts below) would all look like head […]

A warning from Gateway and an earnings miss by Alcoa sent stocks sprawling on Wednesday. The U.S. dollar fell and gold surged after superstar bond manager Bill Gross said he favors a weak dollar to boost the economy. The Nasdaq lost 30 to 1401, the S&P 500 fell 13 to 909, and the Dow lost […]

The Nasdaq and Nasdaq 100 (first two charts below) put in bearish evening star reversal patterns today, a three-day candlestick pattern that has marked many a top in the indexes over the last few years. That said, sentiment became somewhat more supportive today, with the equity-only put-call ratio closing at .77 today, a considerable improvement […]

Upbeat earnings pronouncements from EMC and others boosted tech stocks on Tuesday. The Nasdaq gained 10 to 1431, the S&P 500 slipped 6 to 922, and the Dow lost 32 to 8740. Volume rose to 1.55 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.75 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 20 to 13 on the NYSE, […]