Paul Shread

Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) posted quarterly results late Monday that were better than Wall Street analysts expected, but the company’s shares slumped in after-hours trading on current quarter sales guidance that was potentially below estimates. Adobe’s second-quarter sales were up 19% to $887 million, 1% more than analysts expected, and pro forma earnings of 50 […]

Consumer inflation data that wasn’t as bad as feared was the only excuse investors needed to buy on Friday, while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) led tech stocks higher after merger talks between Microsoft and Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) broke down. Microsoft rallied for a second day on news that it won’t overpay for […]

We’ll add one more data point to the bullish evidence here: a nice move this week into S&P long positions by commercial traders. We’ll see how that survives with expiry coming up, but that vote of confidence by the biggest traders is noteworthy. Now all we need is for the market-friendly sentiment to show up […]

An early rally Thursday came unglued when talks between Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) fell apart and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) demoted its COO and CFO over continuing credit market troubles. After rallying 1.5% in the morning on stronger than expected retail sales, the major averages gave it all back in the afternoon […]

Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, along comes Newsweek to tell us it’s even worse than we think. That kind of bearish sentiment in the mainstream press suggests that the bad news may be largely priced in at this point, and we’ve had a number of bearish magazine covers suggesting that in […]

Stocks plunged once again Wednesday on the twin fears of rising inflation and stagnant economic growth. Another spike in oil prices, more tough talk on inflation from the Federal Reserve, another round of credit market fears, and a weak Fed report on economic conditions sent stocks to multi-month lows. Tech stocks were hit after the […]

A cautious outlook from Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) weighed on the tech sector Tuesday, as the Nasdaq lagged its blue chip counterparts for a second day. TI said its second-quarter sales could top Thomson Financial’s consensus forecast of $3.37 billion, a plus after two straight disappointments from the company. But the company’s comment that wireless […]

After outperforming its blue chip counterparts for more than a month, the technology sector fell out of favor on Monday, losing ground even as blue chip stocks finally rallied. The Nasdaq lost 0.6%, while the Dow rose by that much despite a steep loss at Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) and another rough day for financial […]

Stocks suffered their worst day in four months Friday on the biggest jump in the jobless rate in 22 years, a record one-day spike in oil prices, and a threat to raise interest rates by the head of the European Central Bank. The spike in the U.S. jobless rate from 5.0% to 5.5% was driven […]

Not a lot to like in today’s market, as the lagging blue chips and financials continue to be a problem for the market that technology leadership alone can’t overcome. Even the techs finally gave in today, as the Nasdaq (first chart below) closed below its March uptrend line. 2450 and 2425-2430 are next support, and […]

Stronger than expected retail sales and a drop in weekly jobless claims ahead of Friday’s monthly government jobs report sent stocks soaring on Thursday. A blockbuster merger in the tech sector didn’t hurt. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) shares gained more than 5% on news that it will acquire Alltel for $28.1 billion. The result was the […]

A very nice rally today, but in the bigger picture, it’s a bare beginning. The Nasdaq (first chart below) continues to outperform strongly and is less than two points from a new recovery high, so no lack of leadership for the market. But the blue chips continue to lag badly, a worrisome sign since that’s […]