Paul Shread

Stocks pulled back in light volume on Monday, ahead of Tuesday’s decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ slipped 2 to 111, and the Nasdaq lost 18 to 1480. The S&P 500 declined 2 to 1038, and the Dow gave back 10 to 8836. Volume fell to 1.17 billion shares on […]

What a strange day Friday was. Stocks put in an impressive day despite a University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey that can only be described as bearish. Traders may have focused on the headline number, which was better than expected, but a look at the numbers behind the headline doesn’t appear to bode well for […]

Stocks ended the week Friday with strong gains on rising volume. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ climbed 2 to 113, and the Nasdaq climbed 37 to 1498. The S&P 500 rose 22 to 1040, and the Dow surged 166 to 8847. Volume rose to 1.65 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.06 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers […]

They say cash is king in a bear market, but its crown sure has been getting tarnished lately. That’s because real interest rates in the U.S. are hovering around zero for the first time since 1993. With the CPI at 2.7%, and the Fed funds rate at 3% and the discount rate at 2.5%, the […]

Blue chip stocks staged an impressive comeback on Thursday, but technology shares lagged. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ slipped 1 to 111, and the Nasdaq lost 3 to 1460. The S&P 500 added 11 to 1018, and the Dow climbed 114 to 8681. Volume declined to 1.47 billion shares on the NYSE, but rose to 2.03 billion […]

Faced with the potential delisting of several elite Nasdaq 100 stocks, the Nasdaq Stock Market appears likely to waive its $1 a share listing requirement for the rest of the year. Unlike the dot-coms that have so far led the parade of stocks banished to the over-the-counter market, the next wave is likely to be […]

The stock market resumed its losing ways on Wednesday, and an earnings warning from Sonus Networks after the close pressured networking stocks after hours. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ fell 7 to 112, and the Nasdaq lost 37 to 1464. The S&P 500 declined 5 to 1007, and the Dow lost 92 to 8567. Volume declined to […]

Nokia is the best-looking big-name technology company. The problem is, the good news is rapidly getting built into the company’s share price. As we wrote two weeks ago at the time the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked, Nokia “has weathered the tech downturn far better than any other tech giant. And at […]

After more than a week of extreme volatility, stocks had a quiet day on Tuesday. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ slipped 1 to 119, and the Nasdaq added 2 to 1501. The S&P 500 rose 8 to 1012, and the Dow climbed 56 to 8659. Volume declined to 1.6 billion shares on the NYSE, but climbed to […]

The good news is that the stock market’s action over the last couple of days has made it easier to identify a technical structure after last week’s free fall. The bad news is that there appears to be more downside ahead for the market when the current rally is completed. But even therein lies some […]

Wall Street sayings are worth paying attention to because you’d be surprised how often traders are watching them. One of those sayings is the loose definition of a bear market: 20% is the point where a correction becomes a bear market, and 30% is the level where a mild-to-moderate bear market becomes a major bear […]

Stocks fell sharply Thursday after Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told the Senate that last week’s terrorist attacks will likely have a significant short-term effect on the U.S. economy. The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ dropped 5 to 117, and the Nasdaq lost 56 to 1470. The S&P 500 fell 31 to 984, and the Dow plunged 382 to […]