Paul Shread

The market really needs to find a better company than Motorola to kick off earnings season. Every quarter, Motorola goes first, and almost every quarter, the company disappoints. And as a result, the company’s stock seems to spend more time than not in the mid-teens, a level first reached in mid-1993. That’s eight years of […]

Technology stocks sold off in rising volume on Tuesday after the Supreme Court refused to hear Microsoft’s antitrust appeal and analysts downgraded chip stocks. U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan targets entered their third day, and U.S. officials said most Taliban air defenses have been taken out. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ slipped 2 to 126, and the Nasdaq […]

In case anyone has forgotten, October is a big month for earnings and economic reports. The big question, of course, is how much they’re going to matter if everyone already expects the worst anyway, and the focus has shifted to the war against terrorism. We probably won’t know much about the effect of the current […]

Stocks pulled back on lower volume on Monday, as U.S.-led attacks on Taliban and terrorist targets in Afghanistan entered their second day. News that the FBI was investigating a second anthrax case in Florida also weighed on stocks. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ was unchanged at 128, and the Nasdaq was unchanged at 1605. The S&P 500 […]

On Wall Street, there’s news, and then there are surprises. The market doesn’t like surprises (unless they’re positive, of course). Fortunately, yesterday’s U.S.-led attacks against Taliban and terrorist targets in Afghanistan were expected by the market, and thus the news hasn’t rattled futures traders too much this morning. So far, the futures are down about […]

Stocks pulled out of strong declines on Friday after President Bush discussed the administration’s plans for stimulating the economy. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ rose 1 to 128, and the Nasdaq climbed 7 to 1605. The S&P 500 added 1 to 1071, and the Dow gained 58 to 9119. Volume declined to 1.31 billion shares on the […]

There is at least some evidence that someone’s been using the current rally to sell. We’re talking about the concept of rising resistance, and it couldn’t be clearer on the S&P 500. The S&P has been turned back four times on the same line in the daily chart, each peak higher than the previous one […]

Stocks ended the day mixed on Thursday, as the indexes spent the day range-bound in high volume. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ rose 3 to 127, and the Nasdaq climbed 16 to 1597. The S&P 500 slipped 2 to 1069, and the Dow lost 62 to 9060. Volume declined to 1.58 billion shares on the NYSE, and […]

Dell Computer reaffirmed guidance this morning, giving another boost to the tech sector after Cisco reaffirmed guidance yesterday. Traders ignored one of the biggest jumps ever in unemployment claims and bid stocks and futures higher in the premarket. The jump in jobless claims suggests that the unemployment rate will hit 5% or higher tomorrow. But […]

The numbers speak for themselves. The Federal Reserve lowered the fed funds rate by 50 basis points yesterday to 2.5%, the lowest the rate has been since the recession of 1962. The discount rate was cut to 2%, the lowest level since September 12, 1958. And the Greenspan Fed has now moved past the 1929-1930 […]

Stocks rose in higher volume after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points, the ninth rate cut this year. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ rose 2 to 113, and the Nasdaq climbed 11 to 1492. The S&P 500 added 12 to 1051, and the Dow surged 113 to 8950. Volume rose to 1.28 billion […]

Despite the dread that October conjures up in the minds of investors, more bear markets have ended in October than have begun in that storied month. That axiom didn’t work last year, obviously, but maybe it will work a little better this year. At a minimum, a 4-6 week rally is likely at some point. […]