Paul Shread

Discouraging action today, as stocks turned sharply lower and are nearing the lower support levels we noted yesterday. Below those levels and we could be entering a new leg down toward the support levels we mentioned on Monday. But there are a couple of positives — just a couple — and stocks need to turn […]

As we said last Friday in the midst of the Bear Stearns implosion: “at the first sign the world isn’t going to come to an end, we could get a heck of a rally.” We got that today from Lehman Brothers, and stocks responded with a powerful upside move. We’ve had a cathartic sell-off with […]

Better than expected results from Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs and a three-quarter point rate cut from the Federal Reserve went a long way toward easing fears about the credit markets and the economy on Tuesday, sending stocks to their best one-day gain in at least five years. Lehman shares soared 46% on its results. […]

The historic implosion of Bear Stearns, the nation’s fifth-largest investment bank, hit technology stocks harder than it hit blue chips, which somehow finished the day with small gains. News that JP Morgan, with the help of the Federal Reserve, acquired Bear Stearns at fire-sale prices sent stocks plunging in the early going Monday. But perhaps […]

An extraordinary day today, from a historic collapse that possibly exceeds the Enron and WorldCom fiascos to the Fed’s unprecedented steps to bail out investment banks. It is almost impossible to record all the significant developments in the market today, but one worth noting is the possible unraveling of the commodity trade (see first chart […]

EMC has increased its offer for Iomega, and the offer appears to be good enough to open merger talks between the two (see EMC Makes a Play for Iomega). EMC has offered $3.75 a share for Iomega for the company’s 54.8 million outstanding shares, 50 cents a share higher than EMC’s previous offer. Iomega said […]

Stocks are sure having a rough time trying to right themselves. As we’ve noted ad nauseum, sentiment indicators support a bottom here, but price has yet to agree. And price has the final say. Still, we’ll note one positive development this week: the Investors Intelligence weekly sentiment survey came in with numbers this that showed […]

News that the Federal Reserve and JP Morgan engineered emergency funding for Bear Stearns sent stocks plunging on Friday. The rare maneuver — previously done in the 1960s and 1930s — spooked investors reeling from eight months of a worsening credit crisis and undid an early rally on upbeat inflation data. At their lows, the […]

Stocks started the day sharply lower Thursday on growing credit market fears, but staged a dramatic comeback in the afternoon after Standard & Poors said banks may be nearing the end of subprime mortgage write-downs. The near collapse of a Carlyle Group fund and weak retail sales sent stocks skidding in the early going, but […]

Stocks tried to extend their rally Wednesday a day after the stock market’s biggest one-day gain in five years, but fell victim to profit-taking in afternoon trading. The major indexes were up 1% around midday, but $110 a barrel oil and a new low in the U.S. dollar renewed inflation concerns and sparked selling, sending […]

Stocks soared to their best one-day gains in five years Tuesday on news of a global credit market rescue effort led by the Federal Reserve. Major stock indexes surged nearly 4% on the plan by global central banks to pump $200 billion into frozen credit markets, a move that investors hope will create a market […]

The stock market remains the best leading economic indicator, and today’s action suggests that the Federal Reserve may finally have solved the credit crunch. Today’s 90% upside volume day, following right on the heels of yesterday’s 90% downside day and low-volume retest of the January lows, suggests that we may finally have a bottom of […]