Stocks Recover From Nokia Warning

Stocks battled back Tuesday from a steep decline after Nokia issued a profit warning.

The ISDEX http://www.wsrn.com/apps/ISDEX/ rose 2 to 252, and the Nasdaq slipped less than a point to 2169 after trading as low as 2105. The S&P 500 added 1 to 1255, and the Dow climbed 26 to 10,948. Volume rose to 1.14 billion shares on the NYSE, and 1.71 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a handful of issues on the NYSE, but decliners led 20 to 17 on the Nasdaq. For earnings reports, visit our earnings calendar at http://www.wsrn.com/apps/earnings/internet.xpl and reported earnings at http://www.wsrn.com/apps/earnings/ireported.xpl. For after hours quotes and news, visit our after hours trading site at http://www.afterhourstrading.com.

After the close, Avaya issued a revenue warning and announced layoffs, Loudcloud missed estimates, and CMGI beat its guidance but lowered forward guidance.

During the day, Nokia plunged 5.45 to 23.26 after announcing that earnings will miss 18-cent estimates by 4-5 cents. Openwave fell 4.46 to 33.25, but Wireless Facilities added .45 to 7.33 on a deal with Siemens.

EMC slipped .17 to 31.74 on worries ahead of a Bear Stearns presentation tomorrow.

VeriSign surged 4.09 to 58 on a positive lunch with analysts.

F5 soared 2.32 to 14.12 on a bullish comments from Merrill Lynch. Foundry rose 2.17 to 20 on a positive presentation at a CIBC conference.

Dell gained .84 to 26.10 on a Morgan Stanley upgrade and comments that the company is satisfied with business in Europe.

TIBCO fell .20 to 14.90 despite positive comments from SG Cowen after a two-day customer conference.

Some technical comments on the market: Note: We include charts in the technical market commentary. If you can’t get the charts via the e-mail newsletter version, try this link: http://www.afterhourstrading.com/column.html

One impressive recovery today, and just in time for options expiration. Max-Pain on the Nasdaq 100 tracking stock , the point where most options expire worthless, is 46, just above where the QQQ closed today. That could make for a flat few days on the market; we’ll see soon enough. The Dow, the S&P 500 and the S&P 100 (first three charts) all recovered nicely from breakdowns out of potential head-and-shoulders tops (the black lines on the S&P charts). In the process, the S&P indexes hammered out some nice new rising channels (the blue lines). Not a bad day for the broad market, but the pierced trendlines leave the indexes vulnerable for the next few days. The 10,870 level continues as critical support for the Dow, and 1240-1250 on the S&P 500 and 642 on the S&P 100 remain critical support on those indexes. The Nasdaq (fourth chart) and Nasdaq 100 (fifth chart) held their head-and-shoulders necklines of 2100 and 1760, respectively, but redrawing trendlines on both indexes still give them bearish rising wedges (the blue lines). Finally, a look at an S&P 500 chart from 1999 (sixth chart): the index broke down out of a head-and-shoulders top in October 1999, but recovered to hit new highs. It is a different market environment this time, but there is a precedent for the index to turn today’s action into something bullish.

Special report: For a free introduction to technical chart patterns and an overview of last year’s action in the stock market, visit http://www.internetstockreport.com/guest/article/0,1785,2571_500051,00.html.