Paul Shread

News that the manufacturing sector remains weak undercut a strong stock market rally on Monday. The Nasdaq rose 6 to 1484, the S&P 500 slipped 1 to 934, and the Dow lost 33 to 8862 after trading above 9000 on the open. Volume rose from Wednesday’s levels to 1.56 billion shares on the NYSE, and […]

The Dow and S&P (first 5 charts below) ran into major resistance today, the August highs and the neckline of a massive head and shoulders top in the S&P 500 (fifth chart). A move above 9077 on the Dow and 965 on the S&P could give the indexes room to 9300-9400 on the Dow and […]

Bulls took the day off on Friday after two days of strong gains. The Nasdaq added 1 to 1468, the S&P 500 slipped 3 to 930, and the Dow gave back 40 to 8804. Volume declined to 1.63 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.96 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led 17 to 15 on […]

Note: There will be no technical analysis next week; it will return December 2. The S&P 500 (first chart) was stopped at its March downtrend line this week. A move above 935 next week would likely target the critical 950-965 resistance zone. A move below 925 would likely signal the start of a correction. 910 […]

Not much to complain about tonight. The equity put-call ratio continues to show skepticism, closing at .62 today, and even the new high list improved today. However, the market is pretty stretched at this point and could use a consolidation or correction. NYSE internals remain the one weak spot for the market, but even they […]

HP sent stocks soaring Thursday on better than expected results. Better than expected economic reports also helped, and traders even shook off a warning from GE. The Nasdaq soared 48 to 1467, the S&P 500 rose 19 to 933, and the Dow surged 222 to 8845. Volume soared to 2 billion shares on the NYSE, […]

Downgrades to Amazon.com and Microsoft sent tech stocks lower on Tuesday, and a revenue miss by Home Depot weighed on the broader market. The Nasdaq lost 19 to 1374, the S&P 500 declined 3 to 896, and the Dow slipped 11 to 8474. Volume rose to 1.33 billion shares on the NYSE, but declined to […]

The one positive for the market remains relatively strong internals, an indication that selling remains restrained and that the market may only be correcting here. That said, there are a number of signs of weakness that suggest the potential for further downside. The Nasdaq (first chart below) closed below a nice uptrend line, making 1360 […]

Stocks began the day up on Monday, only to sell off into the close. The Nasdaq lost 17 to 1392, the S&P 500 declined 9 to 900, and the Dow fell 92 to 8486. Volume declined to 1.27 billion shares on the NYSE, but rose to 1.76 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 18 to […]

A pretty ugly reversal today, but surprisingly, internals held up well under the circumstances, a positive for the bulls. Still, the rising volume on the Nasdaq is enough to qualify as a distribution day for tech stocks. One negative is that the Nasdaq (see first chart below) failed to clear its August high today, while […]

The Dow (first chart below) and S&P (second chart) both broke out today, but there are a number of reasons to remain wary here. Volume and new highs have yet to expand, showing a hesitance to pay higher prices and buy breakouts. The equity put-call ratio closed at a very low .44, and the VIX, […]

Stocks were mixed on Friday, as downgrades, earnings, terrorist warnings and economic data all competed for traders’ attention. Disappointment over Dell’s in-line earnings, weak manufacturing data and higher than expected producer prices caused an early sell-off, while better than expected consumer sentiment bolstered the bulls’ case. The Nasdaq was unchanged at 1411, the S&P 500 […]