Paul Shread

Spiking jobless claims couldn’t keep stocks down on Thursday, as reassuring words from Merrill Lynch and encouraging results from Research In Motion and Micron Technology helped stocks finish the day with modest gains. Merrill’s comments that the company doesn’t need to raise additional capital eased fears of a worsening credit crunch and helped steady stocks […]

Apple’s iPhone has yet to have much of an effect on Research In Motion, if the company’s latest quarterly results are any indication. RIM reported better than expected quarterly results and guidance late Wednesday, and its subscriber growth was pretty impressive too. RIM’s earnings of $412.5 million, or 72 cents a share, more than doubled […]

Just 88.84 points separate the Dow (first chart below) from its February high; a close of 12,743.2 or higher would confirm the Transports’ (second chart) close above its February high a week ago. That would generate a Dow Theory bull signal, reversing November’s bear signal, and suggest that the worst of the credit crunch may […]

A day after ending their worst quarter in nearly six years, stocks got the second quarter off to its best start in 70 years. Strong demand for a Lehman convertible offering eased worries that the investment firm could be the next to implode after Bear Stearns, and manufacturing and construction readings that weren’t as bad […]

Stocks ended their worst quarter since mid-2002 with modest gains on Monday, thanks to a better than expected — but still contracting — Midwest manufacturing report and a sweeping proposal to reform financial market oversight in the wake of the subprime mortgage meltdown. For the quarter, the Nasdaq lost 14.1%, the S&P shed 9.9%, and […]

Stocks have given back much of their recent gains, but bears don’t seem to have seized control just yet. For starters, downside volume has been tame, below 80%, and the advance-decline line (first chart below) hasn’t turned sharply lower either. But we’re still waiting for stocks to break out of their two-month trading range. 12,743 […]

Stocks fell for a third day Friday on fresh evidence that consumers are reining in spending, but Red Hat bucked the downtrend with better than expected quarterly results. Red Hat shares gained 5.5% on earnings and sales that came in just ahead of Wall Street expectations. Red Hat wasn’t the only tech stock to escape […]

Oracle shares tumbled in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company’s sales came in below Wall Street estimates. Oracle’s non-GAAP earnings of 30 cents a share, or $1.6 billion, met Wall Street estimates. Sales rose a healthy 21% from the year-ago quarter to $5.35 billion, but that was less than the $5.42 billion that analysts were […]

The lowest consumer confidence reading in five years did little to dent enthusiasm for tech stocks on Tuesday, as the sector continued its run ahead of Oracle’s earnings report. Yahoo led the way higher after Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney said Microsoft will likely raise its offer for the company to $34 a share. Yahoo gained […]

For the first time in a long time, stock market bulls have seized control here, but they face a number of major tests just ahead. Perhaps the most important is 12,743 on the Dow (first chart below). The Transports (second chart) cleared their February high today, so a Dow close above the same level is […]

Tech stocks led the way higher Monday as the stock market neared its first positive month since October. JP Morgan’s sweetened bid for Bear Stearns and an unexpected rise in existing home sales raised hopes that the worst may be over for the subprime mortgage crisis that has weighed on stocks for eight months. The […]

A day after their best one-day performance in five years, stocks gave most of their gains back, led lower by falling commodity prices and worries that subprime mortgage troubles may be far from over. Adobe investors had reason to cheer, though, as the company’s shares soared 9% after its quarterly results came in better than […]