Paul Shread

Cisco Systems plans a fabric-based encryption offering for disk and tape later this year that the company says bests current approaches. The product will be delivered in the second half of the year, but Cisco has been conducting preliminary briefings to let customers know it’s coming and will issue a press release on the offering […]

The Nasdaq’s underperformance (first chart below) is becoming quite a problem for the market here. While the rest of the market rises on takeover speculation, the techs are falling on slowdown fears — doesn’t seem like a recipe for an enduring advance, but commercial long positions in the S&P suggest that the market should be […]

Applied Materials posted quarterly results late Tuesday that beat Wall Street estimates and offered solid guidance, but investors were more concerned about a predicted drop in orders. AMAT’s sales grew 13% to $2.53 billion, beating $2.36 billion estimates, and pro forma earnings of 36 cents a share were 8 cents better than anticipated. The chip […]

The latest release of EMC’s flagship storage resource management (SRM) software includes support for VMware and better reporting capabilities. EMC ControlCenter 6.0, which the storage giant is billing as its biggest upgrade in years, now offers extensive support for VMware Infrastructure 3 software and also includes improvements in flexibility and customization for SRM reporting. Giving […]

The Nasdaq (first chart below) is back in its familiar position of laggard after Friday’s sell signal under Gerald Appel’s Nasdaq/NYSE relative strength indicator. Some slight complacency has begun to creep into options indicators, but in general, we expect the path of least resistance to be up for the next couple of months. The Nasdaq […]

Stocks were mixed Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of Tuesday’s consumer inflation data, but blue chips got a modest boost from the private equity takeover of Chrysler. Economists are looking for a 0.5% rise in the CPI and a 0.2% increase after food and energy prices are factored out, while investors are hoping for […]

Stocks rebounded sharply Friday after a government report showed that inflation remains tame at the wholesale level, raising hopes that the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates. News that core inflation remains tame even as energy prices continue to spike gave traders hope that the Fed will have room to cut rates to boost faltering […]

The S&P (first chart below) remains the big problem for the market here. Unless the index can clear its upper trendline at 1513-1514, the rally will remain at risk. First resistance is 1500-1501, and support is 1488 and 1476-1480. Some complacency has begun to creep into the market in recent days, such as a 5-point […]

The Federal Reserve may be worried about inflation, but declining sales last month at some of the nation’s largest retailers suggest that the Fed should add economic growth to its list of concerns. Falling sales at the likes of Wal-Mart, Federated, J.C. Penny and Target sent stocks tumbling on Thursday, shaving more than 1% off […]

Note: The Technical Analysis column will return on Thursday. The S&P (first chart below) remains the big obstacle for the market here. Above 1512-1513 and the all-time closing and intraday highs of 1527.46 and 1552.87 come into play. Support is 1505, 1500 and 1490. The Dow (second chart) has support at 13,300 and 13,210. The […]

Cisco Systems beat estimates for the ninth straight quarter late Tuesday, but investors wanted even more and sent the stock 3% lower in after-hours trading. Cisco’s earnings of 34 cents a share beat estimates by a penny, and sales rose 21% to $8.9 billion, topping $8.76 billion Thomson Financial forecasts. But the company’s current quarter […]

The S&P (first chart below) continues to stall at a rising upper trendline that has constrained rallies since November, and with the CBOE equity-only put-call ratio hitting 0.45 today, it may be time for a pullback. If the index can head higher, its all-time closing and intraday highs of 1527.46 and 1552.87 are next. Support […]