Paul Shread

Wall Street traders on Friday cheered a monthly jobs report that showed strong growth and tame inflation, but a sell-off in the bond market limited gains. June non-farm jobs growth of 132,000 and wage growth of 0.3% was in line with economists’ estimates, but the bond market sold off on the news, with yields approaching […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) continues to look strong here, and with any luck it will drag the blue chips along with it on tomorrow’s jobs report. The next resistance zone can be found around 2680, and support is 2650, 2640 and 2631-2635. The S&P’s all-time high of 1527.46-1552.87 continues to be the big hurdle […]

Tech stocks rallied to a new multi-year high Thursday on strength in Research in Motion and Apple , while the broader market stalled ahead of Friday’s monthly jobs report. The Nasdaq closed above 2650 for the first time since February 2001. RIM and Apple gained 4% each, as traders continued to pick them as the […]

Content archiving pioneer Zantaz is being acquired by enterprise search company Autonomy Corp. for $375 million. Pleasanton, Calif.-based Zantaz is ranked number two in the e-mail archiving market by IDC, behind Symantec’s KVS unit. The company boasts more than $100 million in annual sales and is growing at 23 percent annually, operating at breakeven, according […]

Note: The Technical Analysis column will return on Thursday. One of the oldest and most consistent advantages for traders — the first-of-the-month rally phenomenon — continues to pay dividends. Pioneered by the likes of Norm Fosback, who tested it back to 1927 in his 1975 book “Stock Market Logic,” the system has performed well both […]

Stocks kicked off the second half of the year in strong fashion Monday, thanks to solid national manufacturing data, a rally in bonds and another round of corporate mergers. Apple’s iPhone launch did little to move its stock, however, as reports of glitches outweighed estimates that the company sold more than half a million of […]

A tough trading week — the market went nowhere on four of five days this week, and did it in volatile fashion. On the plus side, we have a few more days of monthly inflows to support the market, but the S&P’s all-time high of 1527.46 and 1552.87 remains a difficult spot. The market has […]

Tame inflation data and blowout results from Research in Motion couldn’t sustain an early stock market advance Friday, as rising oil prices and a thwarted terrorist attack in London made for a volatile trading session. The Dow traded in a 200-point range before ending the day 13 points lower. RIM soared 21% to $200 a […]

So much for the Fed being the big news of the week. The Fed gave traders the tame statement they wanted, yet the market yawned. Tomorrow’s personal spending and income data will likely be more eventful, and with first-of-the-month inflows and pre-holiday trading coming up, the market’s in a positive cycle for the next few […]

Research in Motion had an answer late Thursday for all the hype over Apple’s iPhone: when it comes to the market for handheld devices, RIM’s got a big head start. RIM shares soared 14% to $190 a share in after-hours trading after the company trounced Wall Street estimates and announced a three-for-one stock split. The […]

It was a little close for comfort, but the NYSE advance-decline line (first chart below) gave us the positive divergence we were hoping for, putting in a higher low as the major indexes retested their lows. One hint that the market might turn today was early strength in small caps and techs that had the […]

It took strong earnings and IPOs and a merger to snap the stock market out of its funk Wednesday. Oracle had to beat Wall Street estimates and raise guidance just to give its stock a 3% boost, and Andrew’s acquisition by CommScope encouraged speculators to get back into stocks. Web.com gained on a merger agreement […]