Paul Shread

The indexes haven’t gotten very far off this week’s lows, but at least those lows are holding. We had some nice bullish readings in the CBOE and ISE put/call ratios today. Those may have been a little skewed by expiry, but the timing is interesting nonetheless: Monday begins perhaps the most bullish time of year […]

Morgan Stanley didn’t wait for good results from HP to say nice things about the company. HP, which will report quarterly results after the close on Monday, gained 3.8% Friday after Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty upgraded the company’s stock on the strength of its growing software portfolio, thanks to acquisitions like Mercury Interactive, Neoware […]

Network Appliance shares surged late Wednesday on better than expected results, but the news from Applied Materials wasn’t nearly as good. NetApp’s earnings of 32 cents a share were six cents better than analysts expected, and sales growth of 21% to $792 million was also well ahead of estimates. The data storage company also raised […]

The S&P 500 (first chart below) found support seven times in the 1490-1500 zone before breaking down a week ago, so it’s not surprising that that level stopped the rally today, as the “get me out, I’m back to even” impulse is strong at such levels. A sharp pullback is common after 90% upside days […]

Today was a 90% upside volume day on the NYSE and Nasdaq, a potential “all clear” signal for the bulls following three 90% downside days in the last month, per the work of Paul Desmond of Lowry’s Reports. 90% downside days can be signs of sellers running out of steam as investors throw in the […]

Better than expected results from Wal-Mart and assurances from Goldman Sachs that it won’t be writing off credit market losses gave investors hope Tuesday that the broader economy can survive the credit market meltdown. Blue chip averages soared nearly 3% on the news, and the Nasdaq fared even better, its 3.5% gain its best one-day […]

The financials (first chart below) continue to catch a bid here, but that has yet to do much of anything for the rest of the market. Perhaps we can get a good rally later this week, after we get a couple of good inflation reports and the third-quarter SEC filing deadline airs the rest of […]

E*Trade shares plunged 58% Monday on worries that it may not be able to survive the meltdown in the subprime mortgage market. E*Trade announced late Friday that it will take a writedown because of losses in mortgage-backed securities. The company said it is well capitalized to withstand the losses, but a Citigroup analyst said the […]

Tech stocks plunged for the third straight day Friday, as traders continued to fret about a slowdown in IT spending. The Nasdaq has shed 200 points, or 7%, in three days on fears that the subprime mortgage market meltdown is causing financial, automotive and other sectors to pull back on technology investment. It was the […]

The financials (first chart below) got us into this mess, and now they’re trying to lead us out. The Philadelphia Bank Index gained for the second straight day despite a waterfall of bad news in the financial and tech sectors. Can the rest of the market follow? We’re still waiting for a 90% upside volume […]

Cisco’s cautious outlook sent the Nasdaq’s biggest names to steep losses on Thursday. Cisco’s quarterly earnings and revenues beat Wall Street estimates, but the company’s forward guidance was slightly below forecasts, and its comments that critical industries like financial, automotive and retail were pulling back on IT spending raised fears that the subprime mortgage market […]

Cisco Systems delivered another strong quarter late Wednesday, but its shares couldn’t escape the worst day for the stock market since August. Cisco said its October quarter sales rose 17% to $9.55 billion, just ahead of $9.54 billion estimates, and adjusted earnings of 37 cents a share were a penny better than analysts expected. Cisco […]