ETF Prophet

We finished near the highs but the recent range broke to the down side.  Apple struggled again before earnings tomorrow but also closed well off the low.  From a technical standpoint, we are in a dangerous position and we could possibly probe the 1350 to 1330 on the S&P 500.  NASDAQ also breached its 50 [...]

Indices were flat this week, but we saw a high level of volatility.  NASDAQ had started to under perform the S&P 500 almost on a daily basis.  Break down in AAPL and PCLN and late day sell offs are signaling more consolidation.  Just at a time when economic reports this week are starting to come [...]

The market is seeing the choppiest intraday action in a while, and the bears had the advantage until a late day save took us off the low.  The lack of momentum to break above 139 on the SPY is certainly a troublesome development with sharp intraday break downs in tech and small caps.  However the support [...]

Earnings from IBM and Intel were not well received and caused the small sideways pull back. So far, Qualcomm and American Express are selling off after reporting after hours with F5 Networks bouncing.  We will also have Bank of America and Morgan Stanley earnings tomorrow morning.  Even thought the bulls felt lethargic today, the market [...]

We had one of the biggest gains of the year and 1370 on the S&P provided strong support, but volume was lighter today than yesterday.  Apple rebounded 5% after a soft opening and the market trended up all day.  Both Intel and IBM are trading down after beating expectations slightly.  IBM was soft on the [...]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average carried the day with the S&P 500 flat.  The bulk of the carnage was in the recent technology high fliers and the smaller cap momentum names.  Some may argue it’s a healthy pull back in the high fliers, but we may fall further if the selling spill over to other [...]

Renewed sovereign debt concerns in Europe and weaker-than-expected growth in China, put a lid on a technically vulnerable market after a flat open.  Apple caved in after yesterday’s divergence and a flurry of selling hit in the last hour as no one wanted to hold over the weekend given the weakness in Spanish banks. The [...]

Bulls stayed alive with a big move today but volume was still light while VIX got crushed, a hallmark of recent rallies. Higher-than-expected unemployment claims and comments from Fed board members ignited hopes for quantitative easing once again. Optimism about China ‘s GDP forecast and positive earnings season expectations also helped.  Google ran up all [...]

After five days of selling, we got our reflex bounce.  Earnings are going to play a part in where we go and Google’s report tomorrow night will be a good indication.  Buyers where a bit gun shy today and the indices added nothing after the gap-up open.  We also had a pickup in put buying [...]

Downside momentum had been rare, but we got them in bunches this week. The buyers were trapped this morning when the large cap technology stocks caved in after a strong first quarter.  We are now extra stretched and in a prime position for a bounce.  However sharp sell offs often attract sellers on any gap [...]

After an ugly gap down this morning, the market managed a slow bounce in a tight 10 point range.  Breadth was more than 4-to-1 negative and the bulls hit heavy resistance at SPY 138.75 which had been strong support for three weeks.  Bounces in big cap technology names help to mask some of the weakness [...]

Markets avoided a terrible end of the week by being closed today. A poor jobs report and rising rates again on Spanish debt pressured Globex all morning. Egan Jones downgrading U.S. debt due to the lack of control on debt added fuel to the fire.  Unless China cuts rates over the weekend, we are looking [...]

The market was due for a oversold bounce after two days of aggressive selling.  The weakness this morning provided the perfect opportunity, but it lacked the vigor of many other oversold bounces this year.  Once again, breadth was poor with about 2400 gainers to 3000 losers. Retailers and precious metals led while banks, coal and [...]

A late-day bounce took us off the lows but it was weaker than the normal straight up bounce.  Economic weakening in Europe and rise in Spanish bond yields were used as excuses for selling.  Throw in SNDK’s warning last night and Moody’s downgrade of GE, the bulls were looking at a long day. The negatives [...]

There was some initial disappointment from the FED minutes, but some traders still believe that the Fed is going to find an excuse for more quantitative easing at some point and that helped them to step up to defend yesterday’s low.  Big caps like Apple and Priceline continued to run, while small-caps struggled. Breadth was [...]

The action on the first day of the second quarter of 2012 wasn’t much different for the bulls. After a soft open on weak British economic data, the bulls took charge and launched the markets to a new high before tapering off at the close.  Once we start moving after a brief morning weakness, the [...]

We just wrapped up the best first quarter since 1998 with another small green close. NASDAQ was weak with some selling in Apple. The NYSE did much better on strength in oils and commodities. We have the start of a new month and quarter next week.  The bulls will probably be expecting mutual fund Monday on [...]

Even though we did bounce back this afternoon, breadth was very weak.  Today was a ground hogs day mirror image with yesterday.  With a strong sell off piercing the low yesterday in the morning bought back up by end of the day.  This is also the second three straight down day in two weeks and the [...]