Market Wrap
07:21:00 PM EDT | 07/29/2010
Working Hard to Hold the Market Up Into Month End
By Keene Little | There are some big players fighting it out this week, with some selling into rallies while others are trying to protect positions into the end of the month. It's the selling into rallies that is providing a warning.

Market Wrap
08:49:07 PM EDT | 07/28/2010
Durable Goods Disappoints. Beige Book is Lukewarm
By James Brown | The earnings parade continues to march by but investors are no longer impressed by better than expected results. The economic data out this morning reinforces concerns over our slowing economy.

Market Wrap
07:16:25 PM EDT | 07/27/2010
Economics Trump Earnings
By Jim Brown | Positive earnings from companies like Dupont failed to boost the market after economic reports tick lower.

Market Wrap
10:21:00 PM EDT | 07/26/2010
Monday Belongs To The Bulls
By Todd Shriber | FedEx, homes sales jumpstart stocks.

Market Wrap
05:24:06 PM EDT | 07/24/2010
Europe Provides Positive Influence
By Jim Brown | The better than expected European bank stress test results released on Friday setup the market for a flurry of short covering into the close.

Market Wrap
07:55:29 PM EDT | 07/22/2010
A 5-ticket Ride
By Keene Little | For those who have attended carnivals you know that the best rides cost 5 tickets. You might have guessed by now that we're all getting a 5-ticket ride courtesy of Ms. Market. How are you enjoying your ride? Hopefully you took your motion sickness medicine before strapping into your trading chair.

Market Wrap
08:55:38 PM EDT | 07/21/2010
Unusually Uncertain
By James Brown | The pre-market earnings news helped buoy stocks at the open but enthusiasm quickly faded. Ben Bernanke's testimony before Congress this afternoon pushed the market toward its intraday lows.

Market Wrap
08:37:58 PM EDT | 07/20/2010
Serious Head Fake
By Jim Brown | The morning dip to Dow 10,000, a -148 point drop was deep enough to scare weak holders out and provide a buying opportunity for earnings bulls.

Market Wrap
08:16:47 PM EDT | 07/19/2010
Optimism Renewed...At Least For A Day
By Todd Shriber | Financials continue to languish, but energy names move higher.

Market Wrap
06:18:37 PM EDT | 07/17/2010
Earnings Giveth, Sentiment Taketh Away
By Jim Brown | A bad run of economic numbers punctuated by the eighth largest drop in history in sentiment knocked the Dow for a -260 point loss.

Market Wrap
09:12:04 PM EDT | 07/15/2010
Late Day Turnaround
By James Brown | Markets were disappointed with the latest economic data and JPM's earnings report but positive news from BP and suspicion that GS would settle with the SEC fueled an intraday bounce.

Market Wrap
07:31:12 PM EDT | 07/14/2010
Weak Follow Through to INTC's Earnings
By Keene Little | The same story seems to play out each time Intel announces earnings--good earnings, spike in the futures after hours, futures may or may not hold into the following morning and then a sell-the-news reaction. That pretty much sums up today's price action although the market held on.

Market Wrap
09:06:49 PM EDT | 07/13/2010
Streak Swap
By Jim Brown | After seven days of declines the markets have reversed that losing streak with six days of gains totaling about 8% on the Dow.

Market Wrap
08:25:46 PM EDT | 07/12/2010
Small Gains Before Earnings Season
By Todd Shriber | Alcoa, CSX deliver strong numbers after the close.

Market Wrap
08:11:42 PM EDT | 07/10/2010
Oversold to Overextended in Four Days
By Jim Brown | The markets have seen a marked change in sentiment over the last week as we head into the start of the Q2 earnings cycle.

Market Wrap
08:40:05 PM EDT | 07/08/2010
Stocks Extend Their Gains
By James Brown | The U.S. market is now up three days in a row. The S&P 500 has bounced +4.7% from its recent lows. Positive comments out of the IMF and better than expected weekly jobless numbers help fuel the move higher.

Market Wrap
07:54:57 PM EDT | 07/07/2010
Banks Lead the Way Higher
By Keene Little | Thanks to some positive banking news out of Europe and some positive-spin news on bank earnings in the U.S., we got a nice relief rally that took the market right up to its highs into the close. Now we'll get to see if there will be some follow through on Thursday.

Market Wrap
08:35:42 PM EDT | 07/06/2010
Jinx Broken?
By Jim Brown | The Dow erased a +170 point gain to traded in negative territory but eventually closed positive to end the string of losses at seven days.

Market Wrap
08:10:37 PM EDT | 07/03/2010
Seven Down Days
By Jim Brown | The Dow has now lost ground for the last seven trading days and the S&P the last five days. This is the worst consecutive loosing streak in a year.

Market Wrap
08:14:31 PM EDT | 07/01/2010
Oversold Heading Into an Important Economic Number
By Keene Little | The market is clearly short-term oversold and in need of a relief rally at least. Friday morning we get the important jobs number and we'll see if the market becomes more oversold or gets some relief.

Market Wrap
08:56:59 PM EDT | 06/30/2010
Look Out Below!
By James Brown | A disappointing ADP jobs number and news that Spain's credit rating was under review for a possible downgrade helped push stocks under key support levels.

Market Wrap
09:01:58 PM EDT | 06/29/2010
Europe Returns As A Problem
By Jim Brown | Global economic health issues returned to the forefront once again and knocked world markets for a substantial loss.

Market Wrap
07:44:08 PM EDT | 06/28/2010
Stocks Continue To Lack Conviction
By Todd Shriber | Energy, materials names drag market lower.

Market Wrap
06:56:02 PM EDT | 06/26/2010
Time to Fish or Play Golf
By Jim Brown | Monday's open was the high of the week and it was all down hill from there. Economic uncertainty was the motivating factor.

Market Wrap
08:24:25 PM EDT | 06/24/2010
Market Has Pulled Back to an Important Point
By Keene Little | The correction to the April-May decline could be over but the bears need to be very careful right here.

Market Wrap
08:32:27 PM EDT | 06/23/2010
New Home Sales Plunge to Worst on Record
By James Brown | Stocks post their third loss in a row thanks to a dismal pace of new home sales. Meanwhile the FOMC kept rates unchanged and offered a slightly less encouraging outlook on the recovery.

Market Wrap
08:43:36 PM EDT | 06/22/2010
Fasten Your Seatbelts
By Jim Brown | Worries over a global double dip recession roared back into the picture on Tuesday and volatility quickly returned.

Market Wrap
09:12:40 PM EDT | 06/21/2010
Yuan News Not Enough To Boost Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Another Monday heartbreaker for stocks.

Market Wrap
09:52:18 PM EDT | 06/19/2010
Friday Action Is Lackluster As Stocks Inch Higher
By Todd Shriber |

Market Wrap
08:04:09 PM EDT | 06/17/2010
Preparing for the Backside of the Hurricane
By Keene Little | The stock market appears to be putting in the finishing touches to an A-B-C bounce off the May 25th low. If true then the next leg down is going to be strong. Tonight's letter provides some information on account protection.

Market Wrap
09:16:56 PM EDT | 06/16/2010
Traders Indecisive on Economic Data & Corporate News
By James Brown | The markets couldn't pick a direction today as investors sifted through mixed economic data and corporate news.

Market Wrap
08:36:52 PM EDT | 06/15/2010
Europe Finds A Bid
By Jim Brown | Investors started back into Europe with Spain, Belgium and Ireland selling debt into a suddenly healthy demand.

Market Wrap
08:21:53 PM EDT | 06/14/2010
Another Monday Heartbreaker
By Todd Shriber | Big gains squandered in the last hour...again.

Market Wrap
06:04:12 PM EDT | 06/12/2010
Paradigm Shift
By Jim Brown | Last week saw a major paradigm shift in investor sentiment due to the sudden burst of good economic news from around the world. Maybe we are not headed off the cliff as analysts thought.

Market Wrap
08:20:51 PM EDT | 06/10/2010
Gappy Market
By Keene Little | Anyone holding short-term trades overnight should be cured of that habit soon if not already. The huge gap moves on practically a daily basis, in both directions, makes it very risky to be anything other than a true day trader (going home flat at the end of the day).

Market Wrap
08:43:06 PM EDT | 06/09/2010
Oversold Bounce Has Reversed
By James Brown | The market's oversold bounce from the May lows has already reversed. The path of least resistance seems to be down.

Market Wrap
09:22:22 PM EDT | 06/08/2010
Weekly Short Squeeze
By Jim Brown | After the Dow and S&P closed at the lows for the year were due for a short squeeze.

Market Wrap
08:05:09 PM EDT | 06/07/2010
Last-Hour Jitters Doom Stocks Again
By Todd Shriber | Stocks plunge, gold soars as bulls run for cover.

Market Wrap
06:12:50 PM EDT | 06/05/2010
Estimates Busted!
By Jim Brown | Friday was a day for surprises with job growth in May coming in much lower than expected and Hungary became the new Greece.

Market Wrap
08:02:34 PM EDT | 06/03/2010
Market Consolidated in Front of Jobs Reports
By Keene Little | The market held Wednesday's gains (bullish) but the blue chips were unable to tack on any appreciable gains. Bullishly the techs and small caps saw some buying interest. Now we'll see if that interest holds on Friday.

Market Wrap
08:29:01 PM EDT | 06/02/2010
Home Sales & Analyst Upgrades Fuel Market Bounce
By James Brown | There was no follow through on the Tuesday afternoon sell-off. Maybe the market correction has exhausted itself.

Market Wrap
08:35:07 PM EDT | 06/01/2010
Another Late-Day Sell-Off Punishes Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Israel, BP overshadow positive economic data.

Market Wrap
07:03:44 PM EDT | 05/29/2010
Next EU Shoe Drops
By Jim Brown | The next shoe to drop in the Eurozone was a downgrade of Spain's credit rating by Fitch Ratings. We can expect further downgrades of other EU countries in the months ahead.

Market Wrap
07:55:46 PM EDT | 05/27/2010
China Comes Bearing Gifts
By Keene Little | China provided the soothing words about not intending to change their financial policy about selling European bonds and that's all the market needed to hear as the shorts ran for cover and bulls did some buying.

Market Wrap
02:01:42 PM EDT | 05/26/2010
Was that the bottom?
By John Gray | Some are suggesting that yesterday's V-shaped rebound off obvious support at the February lows (1040) means that the correction from late April is over. I'm not so sure. I think SPX may have a date with destiny at the huge gap up opening on July 5th which remains unfilled.

Market Wrap
09:27:17 PM EDT | 05/25/2010
Massive Rebound But Still A Loss
By Jim Brown | After the Dow gave up -292 points at the open there was a massive rebound at the close that pushed the S&P back into positive territory.

Market Wrap
08:42:21 PM EDT | 05/24/2010
The Bears Now Have Their Claws Into Mondays
By Todd Shriber | China, Oil Cannot Help U.S. Equities

Market Wrap
08:50:04 PM EDT | 05/22/2010
One-Day Rebound Or Reversal Of Downward Trend?
By Todd Shriber |

Market Wrap
08:45:35 PM EDT | 05/20/2010
Europe Continues To Grip Equity Markets
By Todd Shriber |

Market Wrap
00:49:33 PM EDT | 05/19/2010
That Wall of Worry is Just Too High
By John Gray | It is said that bulls like to climb a wall of worry, but the markets hate uncertainty and there is plenty of that (uncertainty) out there.

Market Wrap
08:30:17 PM EDT | 05/18/2010
Familiar Themes Send Stocks Lower
By Todd Shriber | Germany's short selling ban roils markets.

Market Wrap
08:21:25 PM EDT | 05/17/2010
Stocks Erase Losses, Book Small Gains
By Todd Shriber | Euro, oil continue their bearish ways.

Market Wrap
07:48:26 PM EDT | 05/15/2010
EU Stink Spreading
By Jim Brown | The financial contagion from the EU is spreading faster than the oil slick in the gulf and there is no end in sight.

Market Wrap
07:09:27 PM EDT | 05/13/2010
I See the New (Bad) Moon Rising
By Keene Little | The market turned down on the last full moon (April 28) and now it appears it may be ready to turn down on the new moon (May 14). With the market appearing to be ready to turn down in earnest, tonight it's time to update the long-range forecasts (into 2016).

Market Wrap
06:43:24 AM EDT | 05/12/2010
Looking Under the Hood
By John Gray | Upon closer examination there seems to be some parts that are missing.

Market Wrap
09:39:27 PM EDT | 05/11/2010
Mass Confusion
By Jim Brown | After opening with a -102 point drop, rebounding to a +87 point gain and then closing down -35 it is clear there is confusion everywhere

Market Wrap
09:04:19 PM EDT | 05/10/2010
Stocks Rally On European Loan Deal
By Todd Shriber | Relief rally ensues on news of $1 trillion bailout package.

Market Wrap
07:45:37 PM EDT | 05/08/2010
Abundance of Excuses
By Jim Brown | When the markets want to go down they will always find an excuse. Last week there were plenty excuses to choose from.

Market Wrap
07:34:43 PM EDT | 05/06/2010
What's a few extra zeroes amongst friends--the fat-fingered trade, or was it?
By Keene Little | The stock market was weak heading into the afternoon trading session and then the bottom fell out, literally. At one point the DOW was down just shy of 1000 points, losing more than 500 in just 5 minutes. But then the recovery off the low was just as eye-popping.

Market Wrap
04:10:31 AM EDT | 05/05/2010
What we have here is a conundrum.
By John Gray |

"It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma". Churchill said this about Russia, but it could, just as easily, be said about today's markets.

Market Wrap
09:12:43 PM EDT | 05/04/2010
Global Economics Rule the Day
By Jim Brown | The Greek bailout or lack thereof, along with weaker economics out of China and a rate hike in Australia combined to rally the dollar and crush commodities and global markets.

Market Wrap
09:04:45 PM EDT | 05/03/2010
Economic Reports, M&A Jolt Stocks Higher
By Todd Shriber | Good news outweighs bad news, at least for one day.

Market Wrap
05:18:34 PM EDT | 05/01/2010
Oil Spill Greases Market Slide
By Jim Brown | The spill that won't die, the Greece debt debacle that won't go away and the next chapter in the Goldman saga all combined to crush the markets as April ended.

Market Wrap
06:29:25 PM EDT | 04/29/2010
Hope Springs Eternal
By Keene Little | The scary drop earlier in the week has been mostly recovered. Whew, glad that problem exists no longer. Or does it.

Market Wrap
09:21:53 PM EDT | 04/28/2010
PIIGS Continue To Drop, But Stocks Rebound
By Todd Shriber | Fed news helps stocks hold onto gains.

Market Wrap
09:47:18 PM EDT | 04/27/2010
Portugal Catches Greek Debt Flu
By Jim Brown | Greece problems worsened today when their debt was cut to junk status and the contagion spread to Portugal with their debt cut two notches.

Market Wrap
08:55:39 PM EDT | 04/26/2010
What Should Have Been...
By Todd Shriber | Financials lead the market lower.

Market Wrap
02:59:59 PM EDT | 04/24/2010
Bulls Win Tug of War
By Jim Brown | After a flurry of earnings disappointments and several sharp drops the bulls pulled it out at the close to push the indexes to new 52-week highs.

Market Wrap
07:58:16 PM EDT | 04/22/2010
The Market Wedges Higher
By Keene Little | On multiple timeframes there are rising wedge patterns with negative divergences supporting the bearishness of the patterns. The big question as of tonight is whether or not the market can hold up into the end of the month.

Market Wrap
08:30:25 PM EDT | 04/21/2010
Another Lackluster Day For Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Earnings not helping, but Greece remains a problem.

Market Wrap
08:35:46 PM EDT | 04/20/2010
96,000 iPhones A Day
By Jim Brown | Apple continues its domination of the smart phone space by selling 1.2 million iPhones more than analysts expected.

Market Wrap
07:59:04 PM EDT | 04/19/2010
Stocks Rebound From Friday Plunge...Sort Of
By Todd Shriber | Goldman Still In Regulators' Crosshairs

Market Wrap
07:39:08 PM EDT | 04/17/2010
SEC Attacks Goldman Sachs
By Jim Brown | Just when the bulls were starting to show some conviction the SEC files subprime fraud charges against Goldman and crushes the financial sector.

Market Wrap
07:48:38 PM EDT | 04/15/2010
Market Melt-up but the Tax Rally Might Be Done
By Keene Little | Just as we had a market meltdown into the March 2009 low, with uber-bearish sentiment, we now appear to be in a market melt-up with uber-bullish sentiment. As below, so above.

Market Wrap
08:31:19 PM EDT | 04/14/2010
Earnings, Economic Data Lift Stocks
By Todd Shriber | JPMorgan Chase, Beige Book and retail sales keep the rally going.

Market Wrap
08:17:08 PM EDT | 04/13/2010
Typical Earnings Squeeze
By Jim Brown | The rebound into the close today was a typical pre earnings spike as shorts covered ahead of a possible upside surprise from Intel.

Market Wrap
07:33:53 PM EDT | 04/12/2010
Greece News Helps Stocks To Small Gains
By Todd Shriber | Alcoa disappoints after-hours.

Market Wrap
04:43:06 PM EDT | 04/10/2010
Dow 11,000 Bell Has Rung
By Jim Brown | The Dow 11,000 bell was rung at the close and now the question is how long it remains at this level and will it move higher.

Market Wrap
07:48:54 PM EDT | 04/08/2010
The Down Button is Broken
By Keene Little | Some people keep trying the down button on the elevator only to have it overridden by more people wanting it to go up. Today's rally off the low was no exception.

Market Wrap
07:44:16 PM EDT | 04/07/2010
Consumers, Greece Drag Down Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Guess whose back? Unfortunately, Greece.

Market Wrap
08:56:13 PM EDT | 04/06/2010
Losing Traction?
By Jim Brown | The major indexes traded mixed most of the day with alternating periods in positive and negative territory as bulls appear to be losing traction.

Market Wrap
07:36:45 PM EDT | 04/05/2010
Markets Cheer Friday's Jobs Report
By Todd Shriber |

Market Wrap
05:38:54 PM EDT | 04/03/2010
The DOW, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Get Their Fifth Weekly Gains
By Keene Little | After February's strong showing, the market outdid itself and put in an even stronger March. The past week was a little touch and go but the bulls held on in an overbought market, thanks mostly to Thursday's rally.

Market Wrap
09:40:53 PM EDT | 04/01/2010
Market Closed On Friday
By Jim Brown | Since the market is closed on Friday the normal Thursday night market wrap by Keene will be produced in the weekend newsletter along with the update for the Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday morning.

Market Wrap
06:44:16 PM EDT | 03/31/2010
Stocks Derailed By Employment Forecast
By Todd Shriber | First quarter closes on down note.

Market Wrap
09:33:05 PM EDT | 03/30/2010
Sell the News Mode
By Jim Brown | Expectations appear to be fully priced into the market and every event seems to attract sellers rather than buyers.

Market Wrap
07:45:19 PM EDT | 03/29/2010
Once Again, Commodities Lead Stocks Higher
By Todd Shriber | Materials names star during the day, Apple shines after-hours.

Market Wrap
11:03:35 PM EDT | 03/27/2010
Race To Quarter End
By Jim Brown | With three days left in the quarter and the markets suddenly struggling to remain positive it appears the bulls could run out of money before we run out of month.

Market Wrap
07:02:19 PM EDT | 03/25/2010
Forest Gump Market
By Keene Little | Forest Gump liked to run and run and run. He didn't know how to stop, until one day he just stopped. Nothing changed. He just stopped. The market is close to the end point and with some reversal signals today, the market might have just stopped.

Market Wrap
07:34:25 PM EDT | 03/24/2010
European Concerns Pressure Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Portugal, new home sales lead to a down day.

Market Wrap
09:06:06 PM EDT | 03/23/2010
Melt-Up Gains Speed
By Jim Brown | The markets accelerated into the close as the S&P broke over 1170 and the Nasdaq broke over 2400. Both were seen as psychological resistance.

Market Wrap
07:42:09 PM EDT | 03/22/2010
Stocks Shrug Off Health-Care Bill To Book Monday Gains
By Todd Shriber | Political headwinds not enough to derail stocks.

Market Wrap
07:05:21 PM EDT | 03/20/2010
Dow Streak Expires
By Jim Brown | The Dow's consecutive winning streak of eight days was snapped on Friday due to a multitude of factors including quadruple witching expiration.

Market Wrap
07:33:07 PM EDT | 03/18/2010
Welcome to the Lawrence Welk Market
By Keene Little | I think the Fed chiefs that we've had must be Lawrence Welk fans--they must have really liked all those bubbles and have been trying for a long time now to create their own in the markets.

Market Wrap
07:49:13 PM EDT | 03/17/2010
Stocks Celebrate St. Patrick's Day The Right Way
By Todd Shriber | Green across the board on a day when green is always in style.

Market Wrap
09:30:47 PM EDT | 03/16/2010
Fed Turning Bullish
By Jim Brown | The markets continued to move higher after the Fed elected not to rock the boat and left rates unchanged.

Market Wrap
08:02:37 PM EDT | 03/15/2010
Stocks Rise, But Nasdaq Falters
By Todd Shriber | A sluggish day as investors await Fed minutes.

Market Wrap
06:20:51 PM EDT | 03/13/2010
Dow and NYSE Remain Laggards
By Jim Brown | All the major averages are breaking out to new highs with the exception of the Dow and the NYSE Composite.

Market Wrap
07:50:11 PM EDT | 03/11/2010
SPX Tags Its January High. Now What?
By Keene Little | SPX has actually been a bit of a laggard (not as bad as the DOW) in testing its January high. After today's close on it we're left to guess whether Friday will see short covering or if bulls will blink first.

Market Wrap
08:07:20 PM EDT | 03/10/2010
Financials Help Stocks To Another Winning Day
By Todd Shriber | Nasdaq continues to shine.

Market Wrap
09:29:53 PM EDT | 03/09/2010
Russell Leads, Nasdaq Follows
By Jim Brown | All the indexes except for the Dow and the S&P set new 52-week highs but a sell program at the close removed the majority of the day's gains.

Market Wrap
07:37:49 PM EDT | 03/08/2010
Not Terrible, But Kind Of Disappointing
By Todd Shriber | Stocks do not follow through on Friday's big gains.

Market Wrap
04:36:44 PM EDT | 03/06/2010
March Roars In Like A Lion
By Jim Brown | February may have left with a whimper but March roared in like a lion with strong gains across the board.

Market Wrap
07:50:05 PM EDT | 03/04/2010
Very Low Volume Day As the Market Waits
By Keene Little | The market essentially went on hold to wait for the job numbers Friday morning. Volume dried up and only a late-day push higher kept the markets from finishing at the flat line.

Market Wrap
08:02:41 PM EDT | 03/03/2010
Positive Economic Data Fails To Help The Bulls
By Todd Shriber | Dow, Nasdaq post small losses, S&P 500 ekes out small gain.

Market Wrap
08:20:52 PM EDT | 03/02/2010
Conviction Fades on Microsoft Comments
By Jim Brown | The major averages rallied for the fourth day but failed to hold the gains. Conviction faded after lunch when the indexes failed to maintain their upward momentum.

Market Wrap
07:23:34 PM EDT | 03/01/2010
This Time Around, Merger Monday Lifts Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Several big deals, ISM data buoy stocks on Monday.

Market Wrap
07:27:34 PM EDT | 02/27/2010
February Squeezes Out A Gain
By Jim Brown | February ended with a whimper with the markets barely positive on Friday but we saw decent gains for the month.

Market Wrap
07:56:41 PM EDT | 02/25/2010
The Ping-Pong Match Continues
By Keene Little | Like a fast ping-pong match we're seeing the ball batted back and forth between the bulls and the bears and so far there's no clear winner. Friday morning could provide it though.

Market Wrap
09:01:13 PM EDT | 02/24/2010
Bernanke Speaks; Investors Mostly Like the Sound
By Judy Alster | The market moves up on Ben Bernanke's remarks and some good earnings announcements; the dollar drops, oil rises.

Market Wrap
09:45:56 PM EDT | 02/23/2010
OOPS!
By Jim Brown | Economic numbers out today suggest the markets are way ahead of the economy. On the surface this was a serious blow to market sentiment.

Market Wrap
10:25:56 PM EDT | 02/22/2010
M&A News Not Enough To Boost Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Lethargic volume hampers the bulls...again.

Market Wrap
08:07:29 PM EDT | 02/20/2010
Game Changer?
By Jim Brown | The Fed's decision to start raising rates created some serious confusion in the markets. Is it really a game changer?

Market Wrap
08:01:41 PM EDT | 02/18/2010
The Fed May Have Spoiled a Nice Little Rally
By Keene Little | The bulls were doing so well since the February 5th low and this week's opex push had the market making a nice recovery. After the close the Fed took away the punch bowl and said the market will have to provide its own punch.

Market Wrap
08:53:00 PM EDT | 02/17/2010
Many Reports, Not Much Action
By Judy Alster | The Fed keeps rates way down, industrial production rises, retail stocks are up and there's good earnings news, but the indexes barely nudge resistance.

Market Wrap
09:45:24 PM EDT | 02/16/2010
Two In A Row
By Jim Brown | Tuesday was the second day of gains for the Dow/S&P and we have not seen back-to-back gains since Feb-2nd.

Market Wrap
09:48:27 PM EDT | 02/13/2010
Signs of Green Shoots in the Market?
By Jim Brown | The Dow shook off a -160 point loss at Friday's open that was caused by worries over China, negative earnings guidance and a realization that the Greece problem had not been solved.

Market Wrap
07:36:40 PM EDT | 02/11/2010
Slipperier Than a Greeced PIIG
By Keene Little | One would think that Greece holds the key to success for the world's markets. If Greece survives its financial conundrum it will mean the world's financial markets will also survive. Or so the story goes.

Market Wrap
08:02:57 PM EDT | 02/10/2010
Not Much Action While Waiting for Greece's Bailout
By Judy Alster | Despite mildly promising news about the trade deficit, the market didn't respond to much Wednesday.

Market Wrap
09:27:52 PM EDT | 02/09/2010
Never A Dull Moment
By Jim Brown | Shorts are getting a workout as news events continue to put the squeeze on the bears and provide false hopes for the bulls.

Market Wrap
08:12:17 PM EDT | 02/08/2010
European Debt Concerns Pummel Stocks...Again
By Todd Shriber | Stocks lose Monday magic as Dow closes below 10,000 for the first time since November.

Market Wrap
07:38:11 PM EDT | 02/06/2010
When PIGS Fly
By Jim Brown | The markets shook off a major decline at the close as shorts raced to cover on rumors there would be an aid package for Greece announced over the weekend.

Market Wrap
07:17:51 PM EDT | 02/04/2010
Nowhere To Hide
By Keene Little | The metals, semiconductors and energy were down hard today and even the defensive sectors such as drugs and healthcare got hit. There was nowhere to hide from today's carnage.

Market Wrap
00:09:47 AM EDT | 02/03/2010
Mostly Static Session After a Double Rally
By Judy Alster | Some good earnings help individual stocks Wednesday, but not the big picture. After back-to-back gains, the market pulls back, staring at resistance.

Market Wrap
00:09:47 AM EDT | 02/04/2010
Mostly Static Session After a Double Rally
By Judy Alster | Some good earnings help individual stocks Wednesday, but not the big picture. After back-to-back gains, the market pulls back, staring at resistance.

Market Wrap
08:59:20 PM EDT | 02/02/2010
Short Squeeze Surprise Continues
By Jim Brown | You have to love a market that can take the worst internals in months and the worst sentiment and turn it into two days of triple digit gains.

Market Wrap
08:01:17 PM EDT | 02/01/2010
Stocks Stop The Bleeding...At Least For A Day
By Todd Shriber | ISM data, Exxon Mobil earnings help stocks rally.

Market Wrap
09:16:07 PM EDT | 01/30/2010
No Surprise Here
By Jim Brown | The market's continued decline after the Microsoft earnings, Bernanke confirmation and SOTU speech was no surprise to anyone reading these pages. I have been warning for several weeks that there would be nothing to hold up the market once these news events passed.

Market Wrap
08:09:45 PM EDT | 01/28/2010
Bernanke Bust
By Keene Little | The Senate confirmation hearings for Bernanke involved the usual political grandstanding but by the end of the day he was confirmed for another tour of duty. The market didn't seem to care today and sold off.

Market Wrap
11:12:35 AM EDT | 01/27/2010
No Surprises from the Fed, Market Up Slightly
By Judy Alster | No jolts from the Fed, mass layoffs slow, new home sales fall and we get a slew of earnings, some of them pretty good. The market rises, but barely.

Market Wrap
01:12:35 AM EDT | 01/28/2010
No Surprises from the Fed, Market Up Slightly
By Judy Alster | No jolts from the Fed, mass layoffs slow, new home sales fall and we get a slew of earnings, some of them pretty good. The market rises, but barely.

Market Wrap
09:06:30 PM EDT | 01/26/2010
Preview of Things to Come
By Jim Brown | Tuesday's rally failure could be a preview of things to come based on less than exciting earnings, weaker housing numbers, fear of the Fed and the Speech on Wednesday.

Market Wrap
09:47:18 PM EDT | 01/25/2010
Stocks Reverse Losing Ways, But Not In Impressive Fashion
By Todd Shriber | Only small dents made in last week's huge losses.

Market Wrap
07:00:16 PM EDT | 01/23/2010
Populist Politics
By Jim Brown | The market crashed on Friday not because of an earnings disaster or a warning from a high profile company. The market extended its decline to three days because politicians are trying to distract you.

Market Wrap
08:03:36 PM EDT | 01/21/2010
The January Rally Is In Jeopardy
By Keene Little | It took eleven trading days to make a high for January on Tuesday. It took two trading days to take it all back.

Market Wrap
11:03:13 PM EDT | 01/20/2010
Fair-Enough Earnings, but Market Falls on China News
By Judy Alster | Earnings were respectable although revenue could have been better; stocks plummeted on the policy-tightening news out of China but regained some ground.

Market Wrap
09:35:56 PM EDT | 01/19/2010
What Can Brown Do For You?
By Jim Brown | This rally brought to you by Brown, Scott Brown. The weekend leap into the lead in the Massachusetts senate race by Scott Brown sent shorts racing to cover those Friday positions

Market Wrap
02:07:07 PM EDT | 01/16/2010
Bump In The Road
By Jim Brown | A classic sell the news event knocked all the indexes into the loss column for the week. Intel may have knocked the cover off the ball but the chip sector was penalized for running up ahead of the report.

Market Wrap
07:59:46 PM EDT | 01/14/2010
Market Rallies Into INTC/JPM Earnings
By Keene Little | For as many times as the market experiences a sell-the-news reaction to a high-profile event, such as earnings, one would think traders would be leery. But the market has high hopes and rallied on those hopes today.

Market Wrap
10:41:32 PM EDT | 01/13/2010
New Highs Despite a Rocketing Deficit
By Judy Alster | Neither an unexciting Beige Book nor a colossal deficit could keep the market down Wednesday. New highs and a jump for healthcare and finance.

Market Wrap
09:16:32 PM EDT | 01/12/2010
Where Did the Earnings Go?
By Jim Brown | This is supposed to be the start of a bullish earnings cycle but instead we are seeing earnings misses and earnings warnings. If this week is a preview of this cycle the bulls are going to be very disappointed.

Market Wrap
08:16:49 PM EDT | 01/11/2010
Monday Delivers A Mixed Bag
By Todd Shriber | S&P 500 moves higher for sixth straight day, but Nasdaq lags.

Market Wrap
07:31:16 PM EDT | 01/09/2010
2010 Surges Off the Starting Line
By Jim Brown | I am sure we all wish the rest of the year is as strong as the first week. The Dow gained +1.8% and it was the laggard of the group. The Nasdaq added +2.12% and S&P 2.68%. It was a perfect example of an index fund rally with the S&P leading the charge.

Market Wrap
07:56:28 PM EDT | 01/07/2010
The Marathon Rally (Barely) Continues
By Keene Little | Other than the banks and healthcare stocks, which were on fire today, the rest of the market is struggling to add points to the board. But you can't argue with success--green points are better than red points.

Market Wrap
11:53:18 PM EDT | 01/06/2010
Reports Galore, but Indexes Tread Water
By Judy Alster | Decelerating unemployment, a reviving services sector, even the FOMC report couldn't move the market much. Commodities had a good day, though.

Market Wrap
09:51:49 PM EDT | 01/05/2010
Cracks In Market Armor
By Jim Brown | Monday's big rally gave back some ground intraday as cracks began to form in market support. However, the buyers stepped in once again and brought the indexes back to level before day's end.

Market Wrap
08:16:56 PM EDT | 01/04/2010
New Year, Old Catalysts
By Todd Shriber | Familiar themes from 2009 jolt stocks in first trading day of 2010.

Market Wrap
10:30:51 PM EDT | 01/02/2010
Preview of Things To Come?
By Jim Brown | The Dow lost -120 points on Thursday and most of that in a major sell program at the close. That was the second of the last three trading days to implode in the last 30 minutes.

Market Wrap
10:59:31 PM EDT | 12/30/2009
Major Indexes Up Again, But for How Long?
By Judy Alster | The Chicago PMI continues its rise; so does the dollar; so does oil; so do the major indexes. The VIX is below 20, though, and the TRIN above 1.

Market Wrap
08:47:13 PM EDT | 12/29/2009
Seven Was An Unlucky Number
By Jim Brown | The string of consecutive Dow gains was snapped at seven with the Dow closing down less than 2 points. The S&P and Nasdaq also lost a couple and it was a testament to window dressing that all the averages remained near their highs on very low volume.

Market Wrap
07:59:19 PM EDT | 12/28/2009
Afternoon Rally Keeps the Bull Run at Six Days
By Keene Little | The bulls were looking at their first losing day in a week but a couple of buy programs at the end of the day kept the winning streak alive. Now if they could only get a little volume behind this rally.

Market Wrap
07:03:43 PM EDT | 12/26/2009
An End-of-Year Review of Long-Term Cycles
By Keene Little | This year's Santa Claus rally has been a good one--most indexes were up 2%-3% for the week which is better than most Santa Claus rallies. Now if only Santa could wave away the longer-term cycles.

Market Wrap
10:10:34 PM EDT | 12/23/2009
Rally Slows on Housing News, Small Caps Gain
By Judy Alster | Bad housing news tries but can't keep the indexes down. Income and spending up, oil rises on lower supplies, small caps win.

Market Wrap
09:38:31 PM EDT | 12/22/2009
Santa Claus Rally Comes Early
By Jim Brown | Santa came early with the S&P and Nasdaq closing at new highs for the year. The good economic news was spreading holiday spirit and rewarding the bulls for their faithfulness.

Market Wrap
07:30:47 PM EDT | 12/21/2009
Healthcare, M&A Boost Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Merger Monday, analyst upgrades help investors feel some holiday cheer.

Market Wrap
07:43:53 PM EDT | 12/19/2009
Another Round Trip
By Jim Brown | The Dow traded on both ends of its recent range to make four consecutive weeks of round trips from top to bottom. The quadruple witching produced volume of more than 11.3 billion shares on Friday but no real market gains.

Market Wrap
07:43:36 PM EDT | 12/17/2009
Ping-Pong Market
By Keene Little | The trading range continues as the market remains stuck in limbo land. The post-FOMC selling looks bearish but the bulls haven't lost it yet.

Market Wrap
11:05:48 PM EDT | 12/16/2009
Many Reports, Not Much Action for the Broad Indexes
By Judy Alster | A slew of important economic reports and some solid stock moves, but the indexes tread water.

Market Wrap
10:33:49 PM EDT | 12/15/2009
Waiting On The Fed
By Jim Brown | We have seen this pattern many times before. Equities rise based on hopes for an optimistic Fed outcome then cautious bulls began to get nervous and move to the sidelines to avoid an unpleasant surprise. Add in the sharp increase in inflation in this morning's reports and there is even more reason for caution.

Market Wrap
08:00:36 PM EDT | 12/14/2009
Positive Catalysts Abound As Stocks Start The Week Higher
By Todd Shriber | M&A, TARP repayments and Dubai help send stocks higher.

Market Wrap
08:02:10 PM EDT | 12/12/2009
High Volatility, No Change
By Jim Brown | A quick look at the first graphic shows that despite all the volatility for the week the major indexes, with the exception of the Dow and NYSE closed almost exactly where they ended the prior week. Less than a 1-point change on the S&P-500, S&P-100 and Nasdaq 100 should be telling us something.

Market Wrap
07:53:54 PM EDT | 12/10/2009
One and Done
By Keene Little | Whoever is behind the buy programs at the open (I'll give you one guess) they're good at flaming the shorts but not good for follow through. By the end of the day we were left to guess whether or not there will be some follow through to the upside.

Market Wrap
10:03:51 PM EDT | 12/09/2009
Indexes Make Small Gains, but Nothing Special Wednesday
By Judy Alster | It was "baby steps" Wednesday for most of the market -- except for companies with disappointing earnings. Crude supplies up, wholesale inventories break a losing streak, gold stops falling.

Market Wrap
09:07:46 PM EDT | 12/08/2009
What A Revolting Development This Is!
By Jim Brown | Depending on your age your probably remember the frequent use of that headline sentence by either Groucho Marx, William Bendix in Life of Riley or more recently Daffy Duck. Regardless of who you remember the phrase definitely applies to today's market.

Market Wrap
07:16:17 PM EDT | 12/07/2009
Mixed Message Monday
By Todd Shriber | Monday's trade fails to illicit much excitement.

Market Wrap
05:08:01 PM EDT | 12/05/2009
Great News, Bad Reaction
By Jim Brown | The surprising Non-Farm Payrolls sent the Dow up +150 at the open only to see a return to negative territory a few minutes later. The volatility was extreme and recent winners became big losers.

Market Wrap
08:28:30 PM EDT | 12/03/2009
Another Top
By Keene Little | Since mid November each attempt at a high has been sold into. It's the mark of a distribution pattern and today was no different. But today's top might carry a little more weight than the others.

Market Wrap
10:07:14 PM EDT | 12/02/2009
Employment Still Disappoints, Small-Caps Shine
By Judy Alster | Job losses are down but not enough; many investors seemed to wait on the sidelines for Friday's big employment announcement. Beige Book wasn't bad, major indexes don't do much, gold keeps soaring, oil off, utilities surprise.

Market Wrap
10:07:14 PM EDT | 12/02/2009
Employment Still Disappoints, Small-Caps Shine
By Judy Alster | Job losses are down but not enough; many investors seemed to wait on the sidelines for Friday's big employment announcement. Beige Book wasn't bad, major indexes don't do much, gold keeps soaring, oil off, utilities surprise.

Market Wrap
09:27:26 PM EDT | 12/01/2009
Dow Closes At 52-Week High
By Jim Brown | The markets rallied as tensions over Dubai eased and traders went back to work after the Thanksgiving holiday. The rally was broad based with all indexes posting nearly identical percentage gains.

Market Wrap
07:26:08 PM EDT | 11/30/2009
Stocks Rise As Dubai Fears Cool
By Todd Shriber | Up day not enough to lift S&P 500 back above 1100.

Market Wrap
10:31:40 PM EDT | 11/28/2009
Black Friday Market
By Jim Brown | The potential for a Dubai debt default roiled the global markets with fears there may be more financial monsters left under the bed.

Market Wrap
08:39:45 PM EDT | 11/26/2009
Dubai Default
By Keene Little | The overnight news out of Dubai, with the government essentially defaulting on their loan, has spooked the world markets. U.S. equity futures got hit hard into Thursday morning so it's a scary setup heading into Friday.

Market Wrap
10:09:18 PM EDT | 11/25/2009
Decent News Wednesday Keeps Dow, S&P Up
By Judy Alster | A big slate of not-bad economic data managed to keep the indexes up Wednesday.

Market Wrap
08:52:15 PM EDT | 11/24/2009
Ready, Set, Shop!
By Jim Brown | The market struggled to hold its gains from Monday and although it finished near the highs of the day most investors were probably more focused on the early ads for Black Friday than buying stocks.

Market Wrap
07:59:27 PM EDT | 11/23/2009
Stocks Move Higher Led By Weak Dollar, Strong Home Sales Data
By Todd Shriber | Gold continues bullish run as dollar dives again.

Market Wrap
03:49:39 PM EDT | 11/21/2009
Pause To Reload Or Running Out Of Steam?
By Jim Brown | The bears are coming out of the forest again after only a couple days of market declines. We are facing that age-old question of market top or market rest?

Market Wrap
07:27:41 PM EDT | 11/19/2009
Does the Dollar Make Cents?
By Keene Little | The dollar rallied today and the stock market declined. If we only knew what the dollar would do we could make trading plans for the stock market. Tonight we'll review what the dollar is telling us.

Market Wrap
09:21:06 PM EDT | 11/18/2009
Market's Winning Streak Stalls
By Judy Alster | CPI not much changed. Market shrugs off disappointing housing news, closes down a fraction; some tech stocks lose after downgrades and glum forecasts.

Market Wrap
09:25:06 PM EDT | 11/17/2009
Meager Gains But Still Gains
By Jim Brown | It was a fight but the major big cap indexes shook off early morning weakness to end with very small gains. The Russell and the NYSE Composite were the exceptions with fractional losses.

Market Wrap
07:42:06 PM EDT | 11/16/2009
Stocks Surge To Fresh 2009 Highs Buoyed By Familiar Themes
By Todd Shriber | Commodities soar, dollar slumps. What else is new?

Market Wrap
06:25:09 PM EDT | 11/14/2009
Friday The 13th, Not A Problem
By Jim Brown | Investors avoided black cats, broken mirrors and walking under ladders as they shook off the date with a decent rebound off Thursday's lows and the second week of strong gains.

Market Wrap
07:40:28 PM EDT | 11/12/2009
Head-Fake Day Before Opex Week?
By Keene Little | If today's decline was used by big money to position themselves for a bullish opex week, we could see the market take off to the upside again. But they better be fast because there are some nasty bearish signs popping up.

Market Wrap
09:57:26 PM EDT | 11/11/2009
Dow, S&P Hit Highs as Rally Continues
By Judy Alster | Stocks lost early gains, but righted themselves to keep the rally going broadly. Only question is, when will the big volume kick in?

Market Wrap
09:57:26 PM EDT | 11/11/2009
Dow, S&P Hit Highs as Rally Continues
By Judy Alster | Stocks lost early gains, but righted themselves to keep the rally going broadly. Only question is, when will the big volume kick in?

Market Wrap
08:57:25 PM EDT | 11/10/2009
Consolidation Day
By Jim Brown | After Monday's big short squeeze the markets wandered aimlessly as traders consolidated recent gains. Considering the +475 point gain in the Dow over the last week this was a needed rest.

Market Wrap
07:08:05 PM EDT | 11/09/2009
Bulls Stampede On Monday, Led By Blue Chips
By Todd Shriber | Is there anything to stand in the way of this rally?

Market Wrap
03:23:14 PM EDT | 11/07/2009
Uncertain Markets
By Jim Brown | The Dow crept a little higher over 10K but the gain was as timid and uncertain as a schoolboy's first kiss.

Market Wrap
08:05:39 PM EDT | 11/05/2009
Hello Again: Dow Traverses 10000 In Best Trading Day Since July
By Todd Shriber | All sectors trade higher, but jobs report will control Friday's trade.

Market Wrap
09:27:30 PM EDT | 11/04/2009
Good News Wasn't Much Help
By Judy Alster | Mostly upbeat reports on the economy and unemployment couldn't stop the indexes from giving up big gains.

Market Wrap
08:59:07 PM EDT | 11/03/2009
Calm Before the Storm
By Jim Brown | The markets wandered aimlessly on Tuesday and alternated between gains and losses as we await the results of the Fed meeting on Wednesday.

Market Wrap
07:56:32 PM EDT | 11/02/2009
Market Starts the Month of November on a Mixed Note
By Keene Little | The blue chips got a little bounce today but small caps finished in the red. Both produced more or less a doji kind of day, leaving both side guessing.

Market Wrap
09:56:16 PM EDT | 10/28/2009
Disappointing Reports Slam the Market
By Judy Alster | A less-than-sensational durable goods report and declining home sales send the market plunging; crude falls, the dollar edges up.

Market Wrap
09:56:16 PM EDT | 10/28/2009
Disappointing Reports Slam the Market
By Judy Alster | A less-than-sensational durable goods report and declining home sales send the market plunging; crude falls, the dollar edges up.

Market Wrap
02:22:34 PM EDT | 10/31/2009
October Ends With A Rout
By Jim Brown | Weak economics, cautious earnings outlooks and fiscal year end for mutual funds combined to push the indexes to their lowest levels in three weeks.

Market Wrap
07:47:34 PM EDT | 10/29/2009
Oversold Bounce or the Start of Another Rally Leg
By Keene Little | The question is on everyone's mind--was today's rally just an oversold bounce or did we just start the next leg up that will take the market to new highs? It's too early to know for sure but we've got some things to watch for.

Market Wrap
09:56:16 PM EDT | 10/28/2009
Disappointing Reports Slam the Market
By Judy Alster | A less-than-sensational durable goods report and declining home sales send the market plunging; crude falls, the dollar edges up.

Market Wrap
09:10:47 PM EDT | 10/27/2009
Economics Fading Along With Earnings
By Jim Brown | Consumer confidence hits a three-month low as earnings reports fail to impress traders.

Market Wrap
07:43:16 PM EDT | 10/26/2009
Commodities, Financials Lead Stocks Lower
By Todd Shriber | ''Strong'' dollar provides lames excuse for equity declines.

Market Wrap
05:36:49 PM EDT | 10/24/2009
Good News Fails To Impress
By Jim Brown | Despite a week of earnings that beat the street and some major gains in individual stocks the markets gave up their gains on Friday.

Market Wrap
07:52:39 PM EDT | 10/22/2009
Bulls Send the Bears Back to Their Caves
By Keene Little | Yesterday's strong selloff into the close had the bears licking their chops as the market sunk further this morning. But by the end of the day the bears were instead licking their wounds.

Market Wrap
09:06:12 PM EDT | 10/21/2009
Downgrade Triggers Slide, Market Falls
By Judy Alster | Better-than-expected earnings can't overcome resistance and a downgrade, the Fed doesn't have much great news, oil continues skyward while Dow 10,000 and S&P 1,100 fade.

Market Wrap
09:41:31 PM EDT | 10/20/2009
Strong Earnings, Mixed Economics
By Jim Brown | Two days into the second heaviest week of earnings and investors are already becoming less interested. Add in a drop in housing and the markets gave up some of its gains.

Market Wrap
08:18:01 PM EDT | 10/19/2009
Earnings Reports Continue To Buoy Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Tuesday could be another big day as Apple blows away estimates.

Market Wrap
02:23:03 PM EDT | 10/17/2009
Volatility Hits 12 Month Low
By Jim Brown | The Dow shook off an early morning dip and some expiration volatility to rebound +60 points off the lows and close right at 10,000 once again. Given the factors that could have pushed it lower this was a bullish recovery.

Market Wrap
07:54:43 PM EDT | 10/15/2009
DOW Tests and Holds 10K
By Keene Little | The market started the day with a negative tone but gradually recovered all day and the DOW in particular got a good boost at the end of the day. The techs weren't loved quite as much.

Market Wrap
09:14:57 PM EDT | 10/14/2009
Earnings Look Genuine, Dow Breaks 10,000
By Judy Alster | Better-than-expected reports from all over take the Dow above 10,000 for the first time in more than a year; S&P500 and Nasdaq follow suit.

Market Wrap
07:35:24 PM EDT | 10/13/2009
Financials, Healthcare Lead Market Lower
By Todd Shriber | Intel delivers another strong report after the close and that could mean a strong Wednesday.

Market Wrap
08:33:19 PM EDT | 10/12/2009
Earnings Optimism Lifts Stocks To One-Year High
By Todd Shriber | Stocks rise, but this was no sequel to Columbus Day 2008.

Market Wrap
02:25:10 PM EDT | 10/10/2009
Cotton Anniversary
By Jim Brown | The Dow closed at a new high for the year on Friday. This was also the two-year anniversary, cotton in anniversary parlance, of the all time high of 14,164 on Oct-9th 2007. There has been a lot of water under the bridge since then.

Market Wrap
07:58:37 PM EDT | 10/08/2009
Today Was Head-Fake Thursday or the Start of Another Opex Run
By Keene Little | The Thursday prior to opex week had become known as the head-fake day or misdirection day as the direction into opex week would often reverse the direction of the prior Thursday. Now we wait to see how today's rally fares.

Market Wrap
09:09:38 PM EDT | 10/07/2009
Market Flat While Investors Wait for Earnings
By Judy Alster | Even an earnings surprise from Alcoa couldn't move the market as investors chose to wait for more news. Consumer credit keeps contracting, gasoline demand is up.

Market Wrap
09:09:38 PM EDT | 10/07/2009
Market Flat While Investors Wait for Earnings
By Judy Alster | Even an earnings surprise from Alcoa couldn't move the market as investors chose to wait for more news. Consumer credit keeps contracting, gasoline demand is up.

Market Wrap
08:40:45 PM EDT | 10/06/2009
Falling Dollar Pushes Markets Higher
By Jim Brown | The markets continue to confound analysts with the best two days performance since the middle of August. It was not without some volatility with the Dow dropping -108 points off its high intraday.

Market Wrap
07:42:45 PM EDT | 10/05/2009
Gold And Goldman Boost Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Stocks resume their bullish ways helped by commodities and a Goldman Sachs upgrade of large banks.

Market Wrap
06:05:22 PM EDT | 10/03/2009
October Arrives With A Thud
By Jim Brown | The fourth quarter started out miserably with a -200 point drop on Thursday and a continued decline on Friday. The damage was not as bad on Friday as you may have expected but the trend is still down.

Market Wrap
07:43:39 PM EDT | 10/01/2009
Quarter-End Hangover
By Keene Little | There was a big effort to prop the market up into the end of the month/quarter yesterday and the result was a hangover today. Now we await some clues as to whether it will be a one-day hangover or something worse.

Market Wrap
08:48:25 PM EDT | 09/30/2009
Down Day, but an Up Month and Quarter
By Judy Alster |

Market Wrap
08:44:47 PM EDT | 09/29/2009
Just Passing Time
By Jim Brown | Fund managers are counting the minutes left in the third quarter in hopes of escaping with near record gains. Managers are hoping their window dressing holds up for at least one more day so they can book their Q3 profits and cement year end bonuses.

Market Wrap
07:29:48 PM EDT | 09/28/2009
Return Of Merger Monday Spurs Stocks
By Todd Shriber | Big deals encourage buyers, but beware the light volume.

Market Wrap
04:47:57 PM EDT | 09/26/2009
The Pause That Refreshes
By Jim Brown | I am sure Coca Cola won't mind if I use their advertising slogan to describe the calm decline in the markets as they head into month end. This could be the pause that refreshes the bulls.

Market Wrap
07:21:28 PM EDT | 09/24/2009
Heading into October with High Valuations
By Keene Little | A key reversal day on Wednesday was followed by more selling on Thursday. We're close to a major sell signal for the stock market but the bulls haven't lost it yet.

Market Wrap
08:55:52 PM EDT | 09/23/2009
Indexes Up, then Down, After Fed Action
By Judy Alster |

Market Wrap
07:43:46 PM EDT | 09/22/2009
What A Difference A Day Makes
By Todd Shriber | Buy the dips works as again as investors renew risk appetite.

Market Wrap
07:23:44 PM EDT | 09/21/2009
Investors Want More, Can The Market Deliver?
By Todd Shriber | Stocks may be vulnerable as investors start to demand growth.

Market Wrap
08:40:32 AM EDT | 09/19/2009
Laszlo Birinyi, Ben Bernanke and Warren Buffet Say It's So
By Linda Piazza | Laszlo Birinyi and FOMC President Ben Bernanke sounded the news that the recession has ended, with Birinyi insisting that U.S. equities have room to climb further. Warren Buffett chimed in with his plans to buy equities.

Market Wrap
07:30:20 PM EDT | 09/17/2009
Stocks Fall, But Rally Is Probably Resting, Not Faltering
By Todd Shriber | Big names lead declines, but it could just be another buying opportunity.

Market Wrap
08:39:14 PM EDT | 09/16/2009
Market's on a Roll, for Now
By Judy Alster |

Market Wrap
08:10:35 PM EDT | 09/15/2009
What Correction?
By Jim Brown | Money manager Laszlo Birinyi said today that investors who wait to buy stocks until the recession is actually declared to be over will miss out on some huge gains. Bernanke said today, "The recession is very likely over." Is that the proverbial fat lady singing?

Market Wrap
07:50:18 PM EDT | 09/14/2009
Pulled From the Water and Saved From Drowning Again
By Keene Little | Like last Thursday, a gap down open was immediately reversed and the market ended slightly higher. That will work only so many times.

Market Wrap
02:38:47 PM EDT | 09/12/2009
FedEx Delivers
By Jim Brown | Traders tried hard to stretch the positive streak to six gains in a row but came up a little short. We are nearly half way through September and markets are setting new highs. Bears are completely confused.

Market Wrap
07:53:13 PM EDT | 09/10/2009
Rally Up to Resistance--The Market Can't Blink Here
By Keene Little | The market pushed several indexes and sectors right up against resistance at today's high lines today. Now the question is what's next.

Market Wrap
08:56:25 PM EDT | 09/09/2009
S&P, Nasdaq Close at 11-Month Highs
By Judy Alster | Despite frustrating consumer news from the Fed, market rises for fourth straight day; S&P and Nasdaq hit 11-month high, oil, industrial, financials up

Market Wrap
08:43:26 PM EDT | 09/08/2009
Lack of Traction
By Jim Brown | After a monster buildup in the overnight futures the cash market failed to impress as every minor uptick lost traction with a partial slide backwards. It was still a winner at the close and that is all that counts.

Market Wrap
06:37:13 PM EDT | 09/05/2009
Highest Unemployment In 26 Years
By Jim Brown | The markets shook off the unemployment news and posted a strong rebound but despite two days of decent gains they still finished the week in the red.

Market Wrap
07:54:33 PM EDT | 09/03/2009
Sellers Halted After Four Days of Selling
By Keene Little | After some intense selling pressure earlier this week the market got a respite and ended the selling streak at four days. If only the positive day was accompanied by greater volume.

Market Wrap
08:27:59 PM EDT | 09/02/2009
Economic News Not Too Bad, but Nobody Cared
By Judy Alster | Despite some encouraging economic reports, the market and the dollar ended lower.

Market Wrap
08:40:22 PM EDT | 09/01/2009
Trader, Do You Want To Step Outside?
By Jim Brown | September, the worst month of the year for the stock market, showed up for work this morning with a bad attitude and a chip on it's shoulder.

Market Wrap
07:16:04 PM EDT | 08/31/2009
Is The Well Finally Running Dry?
By Todd Shriber | M&A activity cannot spur stocks as financials, Chinese stocks weigh on the market.

Market Wrap
02:42:00 PM EDT | 08/29/2009
Hand Me the Paddles
By Jim Brown | After the prior weeks rally the bull looks a little faint this week and was barely able to keep the indexes in the green. Maybe it is time to apply the electric shock paddles and restart the old bull's ticker.

Market Wrap
07:36:27 PM EDT | 08/27/2009
End of Month Push Keeps the Bulls in Control
By Keene Little | The bulls mantra appears to be "I ain't afraid of no bear" as they took a steep selloff in the morning and turned it to their advantage and looked at is yet another buying opportunity. An end-of-month effort to hold the market up may have helped.

Market Wrap
08:15:59 PM EDT | 08/26/2009
A Yawn, Despite Good News from Housing and Durables
By Judy Alster | A few stocks moved, but "lackluster" was the word of the day. Even encouraging reports for housing and durable goods couldn't drive the market up.

Market Wrap
08:15:59 PM EDT | 08/26/2009
A Yawn, Despite Good News from Housing and Durables
By Judy Alster | A few stocks moved, but "lackluster" was the word of the day. Even encouraging reports for housing and durable goods couldn't drive the market up.

Market Wrap
08:15:59 PM EDT | 08/26/2009
A Yawn, Despite Good News from Housing and Durables
By Judy Alster | A few stocks moved, but "lackluster" was the word of the day. Even encouraging reports for housing and durable goods couldn't drive the market up.

Market Wrap
09:32:15 PM EDT | 08/25/2009
Inch By Inch
By Jim Brown | The markets continued to hit new highs but the progress is painstakingly slow with every move two steps forward and one step back but the direction is still higher.

Market Wrap
06:59:49 PM EDT | 08/24/2009
Financials Lead Stocks Lower On A Day Lacking Catalysts
By Todd Shriber | Friday's excitement fades as stocks chalk up some small Monday losses.

Market Wrap
05:43:41 PM EDT | 08/22/2009
Long Live the Bull
By Jim Brown | Shorts relived their worst nightmare once again as existing home sales and positive comments from Ben Bernanke spiked the markets higher at the open.

Market Wrap
07:20:46 PM EDT | 08/20/2009
Real Rebound Or Just A Head Fake?
By Todd Shriber | Stocks march higher for a third straight day, but volume is tepid at best.

Market Wrap
08:13:47 PM EDT | 08/19/2009
Drop in Crude Supplies Sends Market Higher
By Judy Alster | An unexpected drop in crude and gasoline supplies nudges the market higher as investors wonder, "Is the economy looking up?"

Market Wrap
09:21:06 PM EDT | 08/18/2009
Turnaround Tuesday?
By Jim Brown | The rebound lacked intensity and shorts loaded up again at the end of the day but it was a rebound. Worries about a drop to S&P 950 or even 900 seemed to evaporate as the day drew to a close.

Market Wrap
07:55:26 PM EDT | 08/17/2009
Topping Signs Abound
By Keene Little | After trying hard to break through some important resistance levels, with a two-week struggle between the bulls and the bears, today's selloff is a strong indication that the bulls blinked.

Market Wrap
03:02:24 PM EDT | 08/15/2009
No Harm Done, Yet
By Jim Brown | The markets may have posted their first weekly loss in five weeks but there was no damage. The decline on Friday was minimal and exactly to uptrend support.

Market Wrap
07:30:53 PM EDT | 08/13/2009
The Bears Have Bailed
By Keene Little | The rally off the March low has certainly accomplished one thing--it has convinced the majority of bears that shorting this market is not working and we've seen a significant drop in the short interest ratio. That could be bearish.

Market Wrap
07:53:43 PM EDT | 08/12/2009
Stocks Roar Back on Fed Report
By Judy Alster | The Fed vows to keep rates low, housing seems to stabilize, and a jump in exports for the month all contribute to a big day in the market.

Market Wrap
07:53:43 PM EDT | 08/12/2009
Stocks Roar Back on Fed Report
By Judy Alster | The Fed vows to keep rates low, housing seems to stabilize, and a jump in exports for the month all contribute to a big day in the market.

Market Wrap
07:53:43 PM EDT | 08/12/2009
Stocks Roar Back on Fed Report
By Judy Alster | The Fed vows to keep rates low, housing seems to stabilize, and a jump in exports for the month all contribute to a big day in the market.

Market Wrap
07:53:43 PM EDT | 08/12/2009
Stocks Roar Back on Fed Report
By Judy Alster | The Fed vows to keep rates low, housing seems to stabilize, and a jump in exports for the month all contribute to a big day in the market.

Market Wrap
07:53:43 PM EDT | 08/12/2009
Stocks Roar Back on Fed Report
By Judy Alster | The Fed vows to keep rates low, housing seems to stabilize, and a jump in exports for the month all contribute to a big day in the market.

Market Wrap
07:53:43 PM EDT | 08/12/2009
Stocks Roar Back on Fed Report
By Judy Alster | The Fed vows to keep rates low, housing seems to stabilize, and a jump in exports for the month all contribute to a big day in the market.

Market Wrap
09:25:37 PM EDT | 08/11/2009
Two In A Row Is Not A Trend
By Jim Brown | The markets closed down for the second day but despite the decline there is still no change in trend. The indexes only retreated to initial support and the profit taking was very orderly.

Market Wrap
07:25:09 PM EDT | 08/10/2009
A Little Breather, Is There More To Come?
By Todd Shriber | Stocks take a pause, but declines are not too concerning...yet.

Market Wrap
04:21:14 PM EDT | 08/08/2009
Another Week, Another One Day Rally
By Jim Brown | For the second consecutive week the markets wandered sideways to down as shorts gained confidence only to be surprised by another one-day short squeeze to spike the indexes higher.

Market Wrap
07:45:17 PM EDT | 08/06/2009
Waning Momentum but Bulls Holding On
By Keene Little | Reminiscent of the high in 2007 in more than ways than one, the current rally is displaying many of the same signs, including warning signs.

Market Wrap
08:15:56 PM EDT | 08/05/2009
Service-Sector News Helps Cool Rally
By Judy Alster | An avalanche of news -- job-cut announcements, service sector reports, crude supplies -- take the luster off the rally. Market closes well off its lows, though.

Market Wrap
09:09:37 PM EDT | 08/04/2009
Barely Green
By Jim Brown | Positive economic news pushed interest rate sensitive stocks higher to overcome early declines. The major indexes continued to flirt with losses until only minutes before the close but the bulls finally won out

Market Wrap
07:16:41 PM EDT | 08/03/2009
Psychological Barriers? Yeah, Right
By Todd Shriber | Market blasts through important resistance levels as stocks extend rally.

Market Wrap
07:49:23 PM EDT | 08/01/2009
Struggling To Stay Afloat
By Jim Brown | The major indexes managed to close the week with a gain but were it not for Thursday's short squeeze it could have been a much different story.

Market Wrap
07:42:34 PM EDT | 07/30/2009
Rally Complete
By Keene Little | After rallying up to resistance on lower than normal volume the selling from there caused the down volume to beat out up volume for the day on what looked like a bullish day. There are some other topping signals to look at.

Market Wrap
09:07:30 PM EDT | 07/29/2009
The Rally Takes a Breather
By Judy Alster | Lower crude, cautious news from the Fed and profit-taking slow the recent rally, but not much.

Market Wrap
09:07:30 PM EDT | 07/29/2009
The Rally Takes a Breather
By Judy Alster | Lower crude, cautious news from the Fed and profit-taking slow the recent rally, but not much.

Market Wrap
09:07:30 PM EDT | 07/29/2009
The Rally Takes a Breather
By Judy Alster | Lower crude, cautious news from the Fed and profit-taking slow the recent rally, but not much.

Market Wrap
09:07:30 PM EDT | 07/29/2009
The Rally Takes a Breather
By Judy Alster | Lower crude, cautious news from the Fed and profit-taking slow the recent rally, but not much.

Market Wrap
06:45:17 PM EDT | 07/28/2009
Dour News, Down Day
By Todd Shriber | Bad news catches up with stocks, but does that mean there is more to come?

Market Wrap
07:15:37 PM EDT | 07/27/2009
Another Up Day On A Mixed Bag Of News
By Todd Shriber | Stocks Inch Higher On Light Volume, Mixed News

Market Wrap
04:20:40 PM EDT | 07/25/2009
Friday the 13th For Nasdaq
By Jim Brown | It may have been July 24th for traders but it was an unlucky Friday the 13th for the Nasdaq. The streak of consecutive daily gains was snapped at 12 after Microsoft and Amazon cursed the Nasdaq with a -7 point loss.

Market Wrap
07:53:21 PM EDT | 07/23/2009
DOW Rings the Bell At the January High
By Keene Little | The DOW has been the laggard index but following in the NASDAQ's and S&P 500's footsteps it now has also exceeded the January high, even if only by 8 points. too bad it wasn't able to close above it.

Market Wrap
08:26:30 PM EDT | 07/22/2009
Nasdaq String Now Eleven
By Jim Brown | The other indexes took a day off to rest but the NASDAQ stretched its string to 11 consecutive days of gains.

Market Wrap
09:23:45 PM EDT | 07/21/2009
Earnings Losing Their Impact
By Jim Brown | A flurry of large companies reported decent earnings today along with multiple Dow components but the positive impact on the market was muted.

Market Wrap
07:53:47 PM EDT | 07/20/2009
Simply En Fuego
By Todd Shriber | Stocks Start The Week Off Strongly, Extending Last Week's Gains

Market Wrap
05:28:30 PM EDT | 07/18/2009
Best Week In Years
By Jim Brown | The +7.44% gain in the Nasdaq represents the strongest week in almost 10 years. The Dow posted its first weekly gain since June 12th.

Market Wrap
07:20:23 PM EDT | 07/16/2009
The Thank-You Card Goes To...
By Todd Shriber | Catalysts abound as market races higher for a fourth straight day

Market Wrap
07:53:17 PM EDT | 07/15/2009
Thank You Intel
By Jim Brown | The Intel earnings and outlook powered the markets with another giant short squeeze and set the stage for a critical resistance test when IBM and GOOG report on Thursday.

Market Wrap
08:35:50 PM EDT | 07/14/2009
Goldman Earnings Overcome Dell Warning
By Jim Brown | Goldman Sachs posted strong earnings before the open and probably set a high water mark that no other financial company will reach.

Market Wrap
07:38:26 PM EDT | 07/13/2009
It's now up to Goldman Sachs not to disappoint
By Keene Little | An upgrade on Goldman Sachs on the day before their earnings announcement was all it took to fire up the banks. And the broader market followed in their footsteps. Now it's all up to GS not to disappoint when they announce prior to the bell on Tuesday.

Market Wrap
05:03:27 PM EDT | 07/11/2009
Calm Before the Storm
By Jim Brown | Surprisingly weak consumer sentiment and a warning from Chevron and the IEA overcame a bullish tech call by Goldman to keep stocks negative for the week.

Market Wrap
07:55:44 PM EDT | 07/09/2009
A Quiet Pre-Opex Thursday
By Keene Little | It's been typical for a long time to see the Thursday prior to opex week as a volatile day with a head-fake move prior to setting the direction for the next week. Today was un-typically quiet but may have been a head fake.

Market Wrap
07:35:48 PM EDT | 07/08/2009
Lower Crude Prices, Disappointing IMF News Put Brakes on Rally
By Judy Alster | After the hopeful spring rally, a disappointing global economic forecast and falling oil prices throw cold water on the rally.

Market Wrap
08:16:47 PM EDT | 07/07/2009
Economic Fears Drag Stocks Lower
By Jim Brown | With Dow Component Alcoa set to kick off the Q2 earnings cycle on Wednesday after the close traders were more focused on the Michael Jackson memorial than buying stocks ahead of earnings.

Market Wrap
04:21:15 PM EDT | 07/06/2009
A Little Something Is Better Than Nothing
By Todd Shriber | Market's Tepid Monday Gains Not Wonderful, But Better Than Last Week's Losses

Market Wrap
11:09:05 AM EDT | 07/04/2009
Payroll Surprise Extends Dow Losses To Three Weeks
By Jim Brown | A sharp increase in job losses shocked investors who were counting on a whisper number much better than analysts expected. Those hoping for an improvement to a loss of only 225,000 jobs were surprised by a much larger loss of 467,000 jobs in June.

Market Wrap
07:33:01 PM EDT | 07/01/2009
With Manufacturing Stabilizing, it Was Not a Bad Day
By Judy Alster | Things seem to have hit true bottom. There are even signs of hope in manufacturing and autos.

Market Wrap
08:45:46 PM EDT | 06/30/2009
Best Quarter Since 1998
By Jim Brown | Despite the increased volatility over the last month the S&P posted the best quarterly gain since Q2-1998. This was led by a 35% gain in financials, +18% for technology and +17% for the consumer discretionary and industrial sectors.

Market Wrap
07:48:42 PM EDT | 06/29/2009
Optimism Restored?
By Todd Shriber | Monday was a nice day for the market, albeit on the light volume typical of a week leading into a holiday. Maybe it was Bernard Madoff's 150-year sentence for his orchestration of the biggest Ponzi scheme in US history that put buyers in a chipper mood.

Market Wrap
02:30:19 PM EDT | 06/27/2009
The Day The Music Died
By Jim Brown | Michael Jackson's unexpected passing on Thursday afternoon provided reporters with something to do as the pre-holiday week wound down to completion. Stock news was sparse but Jackson stories were everywhere.

Market Wrap
07:48:11 PM EDT | 06/25/2009
Post-FOMC Reversal
By Keene Little | The reaction following yesterday's FOMC announcement was negative and the market gave up its rally into the announcement. Today's rally took back that decline and tacked on a few more points, leaving us with some bullish potential ahead of us.

Market Wrap
08:57:29 PM EDT | 06/24/2009
The Fed Stands Pat, the Market Gyrates on Home, Energy News
By Judy Alster | Today's FOMC meeting told us what we already know while putting changes on hold. A volatile market ended with some gains.

Market Wrap
07:49:41 PM EDT | 06/23/2009
Fear of the Fed
By Jim Brown | Worries over how the Fed may change their statement on Wednesday kept traders on the sidelines and the markets in limbo.

Market Wrap
08:22:09 PM EDT | 06/22/2009
Monday, Bloody Monday
By Todd Shriber | This probably was not the start to the week the bulls had in mind after last week's slump. News out of the World Bank that the global economic situation is more dour than originally thought spooked investors, sending the S&P 500 down 3.1% to 893.04.

Market Wrap
Saturday, June 20, 2009 3:08:32 PM
The Witch Is Dead
By Jim Brown | Quadruple witching expired on Friday with hardly any volatility and very little movement in the indexes. It appears that all the major positions were closed when the markets tanked on Monday/Tuesday and that left traders standing on the sidelines as the quadruple witching passed uneventfully.

Thursday, June 18, 2009
Market Wrap
A Slow Day in the Market
By Keene H. Little | Most of the opex action has moved to the week prior to opex, leaving the tail end of opex week a typically slow time in the market. Today was no exception.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Market Wrap
Today's Password Was "Tentative"
By Judy Alster | The Dow, Nasdaq and S&P500 spent the morning in the dumps but changed their tune slightly around noontime. Eventually investors started tentatively buying again after a pronounced two-day slide, but that faded by day's end, leaving the Dow and the S&P off slightly and the Nasdaq up about 12 points.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Market Wrap
Markets Decline On Economic Fears?
By Jim Brown | Best Buy (BBY) added to the negative sentiment when it reported a decline in same store sales of 6% while Citigroup told consumers "get used to tight credit." Traders may have felt the green shoots may be fading but I disagree.

Monday, June 15, 2009
Market Wrap
Stalemate Broken
By Robert Ogilvie | Finally, after seven days of sideways trading the market finally made a directional decision.

Saturday, June 13, 2009
Market Wrap
What's the Relevance?
By Linda Piazza | While U.S. officials attending the G-8 economic summit urged European counterparts to conduct their own "transparent" stress test of European financials, world watchers questioned the relevance of the summit. "Where's India?" they questioned. "And what relevance does a supposedly global economic meeting have without China?"

Thursday, June 11, 2009
Market Wrap
Battling Resistance and Resistance May Be Winning
By Keene H. Little | For the past two weeks the market has been battling some significant resistance levels. The more resistance (or support) is tested without breaking, the more likely it is to hold.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Market Wrap
Bonds and Beige Book Shared the Stage
By Judy Alster | The government had to pay a lot to unload $19 billion in debt today, as prices on longer-term U.S. bonds dropped, pushing the benchmark 10-year note yield to 3.94%; for a moment it touched 4%, their highest level since October.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Market Wrap
Waiting On Bonds
By Jim Brown | The markets traded sideways today as traders await the results from the 10-year and 30-year bond auctions later this week. Rising interest rates are slowing stock gains as traders worry how this will impact the economic recovery.

Monday, June 8, 2009
Market Wrap
Directionally Challenged
By Robert Ogilvie | The market opened weak on general concern that market participants are beginning to question whether the nearly 40% run up in stocks has become overextended and whether positive economic news has already been priced into stock prices.

Saturday, June 6, 2009
Market Wrap
Good News Disappoints
By Jim Brown | The number of jobs lost in May dropped significantly but an old worry returned to push most indexes back into the red.

Thursday, June 4, 2009
Market Wrap
Baked Into the Cake
By Robert Ogilvie | Much of this week's news seems to be priced in or "baked into the cake." Why else would the markets' continue to advance into such a strong head wind?

Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Market Wrap
A Cold Dose Of Reality
By Todd Shriber | After a nice four-day rally that took the S&P 500 to a seven-month high yesterday and its highest valuation level in eight months, stocks retreated today with weak economic data being the main culprit.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Market Wrap
Green Shoots And Green Candles
By Jim Brown | The better than expected economic results this morning helped the markets to post back to back gains and stretching the streak of gains to three days.

Monday, June 01, 2009
Market Wrap
Another Manic Monday
By Keene H. Little | Other than Monday, May 11th, each of the Monday's since May 4th (counting Tuesday, May 26th as "Monday") has seen a good rally. Having those rallies stick has been another issue.

Saturday, May 30, 2009
Market Wrap
End of An Era
By Jim Brown | The stage is set for GM to file bankruptcy sometime this weekend. GM stock fell under $1 on Friday and the lowest level since April 1933. On Monday odds are good it will continue its plunge to zero since current equity holders will be eliminated.

Thursday, May 28, 2009
Market Wrap
The 3-week Consolidation Continues
By Keene H. Little | Since the May 8th high the stock market has gone sideways. Following the March-May rally that could certainly be considered as bullish.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Market Wrap
Market Is Down, But Is It Out?
By Todd Shriber | Market volatility seems to be back in style as the Dow plunged 173 points on Wednesday after gaining 196 yesterday. That's the third triple-digit day in the last five and two those three have been down days.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Market Wrap
Consumer Confidence Soars
By Jim Brown | The final confidence snapshot for May jumped unexpectedly by more than 10 points and rescued the market from a down open with yet another major short squeeze.

Saturday, May 23, 2009
Market Wrap
Holiday Week Manages Small Gain
By Jim Brown | Unfortunately, despite the small gains the markets appear to be setting up for another leg down.

Thursday, May 21, 2009
Market Wrap
Less Bad is Beginning to Look More Bad
By Keene H. Little | A lot of hope went into the March-May rally and now some cracks are beginning to appear in the foundation of the Wall of Hope. But there's still hope.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Market Wrap
Fed-Day, Fun-Day
By Todd Shriber | Wednesday's market action, if you're inclined to call it that, was driven by the fine folks in Washington, D.C. One part Congress, one part Federal Reserve and one part Treasury...

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Market Wrap
Monday's Gains Held But Will It Continue?
By Jim Brown | Volatility continues and as the Fed moves to head off the next big financial problem of commercial mortgages.

Monday, May 18, 2009
Market Wrap
Expectations Were Met
By Robert Ogilvie | My expectations were met when I opened up my trading platform last night to see how the futures were trading in the Asian session.

Saturday, May 16, 2009
Market Wrap
Green Shoots Turning Brown?
By Jim Brown | The green shoots of economic improvement are wilting for lack of nourishment and investors are beginning to question if those shoots were desirable growths or just a surge of spring weeds.

Thursday, May 14, 2009
Market Wrap
March-May Rally on Life Support but Still Holding
By Keene H. Little | Today's bounce kept the possibility of a continuation of the rally alive. Support held yesterday and it becomes even more important for the bulls to hold now.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Market Wrap
Pullback: A Hiccup Or Start Of A Broader Trend?
By Todd Shriber | Glory days. Channeling the Bruce Springsteen anthem, many investors are probably thinking about the market's glory days, which we are not all that far removed from, after the cold dish served by the market through the first three days of this week.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Market Wrap
Bears Losing Their Grip
By Jim Brown | Recent IDC data tanked the techs this morning but the bulls were eager for a decent dip to buy.

May, April 11, 2009
Market Wrap
Buyer Beware
By Robert Ogilvie | Was today just a small break from the exhaustive upward move over the last two months or is it the beginning of a new down trend?

Saturday, May 9, 2009
Market Wrap
Prozac Market
By Jim Brown | The markets roared off to new multi-week highs on news the banks were not as bad off as many expected. The markets appeared to have taken liberal amounts of Prozac and were in "don't worry, be happy" mode.

Thursday, May 7, 2009
Market Wrap
A Day of Profit Taking
By Keene H. Little | There was nothing specific that spooked traders into taking profits today and after this morning's gap up and run higher the day ended as a potentially bearish key reversal day. In front of opex this could be significant.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Market Wrap
Raging Bull, Hidden Bear
By Todd Shriber | Ho hum. More disappointing earnings. More banks needing capital. Sounds like bad news and a recipe for a bad day in the markets. Well, you may not have met this market.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Market Wrap
Open Season For Hunting Bears
By Jim Brown | The bears have lost their bite and buyers are chasing them at every turn. I would not count them out completely but it is definitely open season for bear hunting.

Monday, May 4, 2009
Market Wrap
Money Rushing In
By Robert Ogilvie | Following the money trail would suggest that investors are re-entering the market in multiple asset classes.

Saturday, May 2, 2009
Market Wrap
Swine Flu, Stress Tests And More!
By Todd Shriber | It was another action-packed week for the markets. Trying to cram all the news into a confined space is a lot like listing all the ingredients on the front of a cereal box and telling people there's also a prize inside.

Thursday, April 30, 2009
Market Wrap
SPX 888 Gets the Square
By Keene H. Little | In the past I've reviewed a very interesting technical analysis tool called the Gann Square of Nine chart. It is uncanny how effective it can be in pointing out important price levels. It did it again today.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Market Wrap
Broader Markets Advance Nicely on Seemingly Negative News
By Robert Ogilvie | There appears to be a lot of capital being put to work despite the fundamental factors

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Market Wrap
Just Passing Time
By Jim Brown | The markets remain locked in a narrow range while trader sentiment is slowly inoculated against the swine flu and we await the potential results of the financial stress test.

Monday, April 27, 2009
Market Wrap
Health Care Scare
By Robert Ogilvie | Another round of unknowns have come into the market. But this time it is not just the financials

Saturday, April 25, 2009
Market Wrap
Traders Stressing Over the Test
By Jim Brown | It was a rocky week for the markets with the Dow making two complete tests of support at 7800 as traders worried how the financial stress test would change the banking sector.

Thursday, April 23, 2009
Market Wrap
Topping Process
By Keene H. Little | Unlike reversals off bottoms, which are often v-shaped, a top is usually a laborious affair and a rounding top is very common. It would appear so far that that's what we're getting.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Market Wrap
Corporate Earnings Causing Volatility
By Robert Ogilvie | Most of the market moves are earnings related

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Market Wrap
Volatility Dip
By Jim Brown | After Monday's -289 drop and today's +127 point gain it would appear that traders don't know how to react to the flurry of conflicting earnings reports. The dip on the BAC credit quality was bought but not in the kind of volume needed to convince the bears.

Monday, April 20, 2009
Market Wrap
Keeping it Simple
By Robert Ogilvie | A sharp decline in the markets was wide spread and possibly due to fears that many of the large stocks reporting in the next day or so will disappoint

Saturday, April 18, 2009
Market Wrap
Going and Going and Going
By Jim Brown | The markets are doing their impression of the Energizer Bunny as they stretched their rally gains to six weeks. Bulls are hesitant and bears are in denial but the result is still a higher market.

Thursday, April 16, 2009
Market Wrap
Techs Lead the Way Higher
By Keene H. Little | Bullish enthusiasm is alive and well as evidenced by the stronger rally in tech stocks and small caps. The VIX is signaling little fear as the market reaches important resistance levels.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Market Wrap
Buying into the Close Ahead of the Earnings News
By Robert Ogilvie | The last fifteen minutes seems to be the deciding factor for which way the markets are going to close that day

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Market Wrap
Earnings Surprises
By Jim Brown | Now that the Q1 earnings cycle has begun in earnest the number of surprises are growing and many are unpleasant. Traders hoping for bank like earnings elsewhere are being disappointed.

Monday, April 13, 2009
Market Wrap
Monday Deals help with the Sector Rotation
By Robert Ogilvie | Sector rotation finds the financial sector no longer the weak link in the market, for now.

Saturday, April 11, 2009
Market Wrap
Full Moon Brings Out the Howling Bulls
By Keene H. Little | A full moon is often associated with mood swings. It looks like this time around it got the bulls howling. But beware the werewolf (bear) who lurks in the shadows of the credit market.

Thursday, April 9, 2009
Market Wrap
No Thursday Night Newsletter
By Jim Brown | Because the market is closed tomorrow for Good Friday there is no newsletter tonight. This week Thursday is actually Friday and Thursday's bullish market will be covered in the weekend newsletter, which is published on Saturday

Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Market Wrap
Thin Trading Easily Moves the Markets Up and Down and Up
By Robert Ogilvie | Today was a volatile session that resulted in some short covering as a defensive more before the SEC changes the uptick rules.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Market Wrap
Don't Worry, Be Happy
By Jim Brown | Stocks were all dressed up ahead of earnings but investors stopped off at the local watering hole for a drink before picking up their dates. Pre-earnings jitters settled in like a nervous teen heading to his prom.

Monday, April 6, 2009
Market Wrap
Late day strength in markets does't translate to internals
By Robert Ogilvie | The markets were all down slightly following the late day push up in most likely a few major names.

Saturday, April 4, 2009
Market Wrap
Best Four Weeks In 70 Years
By Jim Brown | Over the last four weeks the S&P is up +23% and the Nasdaq +24%. Bears are in denial and the bad news bulls are in control

Thursday, April 2, 2009
Market Wrap
The Land of Make Believe
By Keene H. Little | The excuse du jour for today's rally was the FASB ruling for the banks. But if it was so good for banks why didn't they participate as much?

Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Market Wrap
Economic Reports Spur Positive Sentiment
By Robert Ogilvie | Tonight's market wrap encompasses trading lessons and concepts while discussing the day's events

Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Market Wrap
Dip Buying Alive and Well
By Jim Brown | Smarting from the profit taking on Monday, mutual funds again bought the dip and pushed the indexes back into the green to end the quarter with strong gains but sellers showed up again at the close.

Monday, March 30, 2009
Market Wrap
A Declining Day Doesn't Translate into a Distribution Day
By Robert Ogilvie | One week we pop and the next one we drop. Merger Monday took a week off.

Saturday, March 28, 2009
Market Wrap
Big Drop, No Damage
By Jim Brown | The -148 point Dow drop on Friday may have been a triple digit decline but it was only a blip in the overall picture. After rebounding +1461 points Friday's decline was not even decent profit taking

Thursday, March 26, 2009
Market Wrap
Nasdaq Wipes Out Year's Loss
By Keene H. Little | The Nasdaq had closed at 1577 on December 31, 2008 and today it closed at its high at 1587 thereby getting into the green for the year.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Market Wrap
Positive Bias but Volatility is the Key
By Robert Ogilvie | Volatility still runs rampant in the markets. Even though it closed up doesn't mean it stays up.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Market Wrap
Good News Continues
By Jim Brown | The combined testimony of Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke provided several bright spots for the markets because lawmakers were unable to beat them up as they had in the past. The market rallied on the feisty rebuttals and the perception the worst is over.

Monday, March 23, 2009
Market Wrap
WOW! is the Best Way to Explain Today
By Robert Ogilvie | The markets all rallied today following positive a housing report and the Treasuries new plan.

Saturday, March 21, 2009
Market Wrap
Anger Grows Over Bonus Tax
By Jim Brown | The rapid attempt by lawmakers to impose a 90% tax on the AIG bonuses caused a bit of concern on Wall Street since nearly all the major financial firms have been tainted by TARP money and will be governed by the new tax rules if it becomes law.

Thursday, March 19, 2009
Market Wrap
The Starter Pistol Fired for the Race to Devaluation
By Keene H. Little | On Wednesday the Fed started the race towards devaluation of currencies worldwide. With the Fed's efforts to buy Treasuries they single-handedly made the boldest protectionist move to date. The inflationists are now all in a dither.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Market Wrap
FOMC Buys the Market
By Robert Ogilvie | If the Fed were smart, they would front run their policy announcements by buying S&P futures

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Market Wrap
Wearing of the Green
By Jim Brown | It was a happy St Patrick's Day with investors wearing green in the form of another rally to new two-week highs across all the indexes.

Monday, March 16, 2009
Market Wrap
Selling into Resistance Works!
By Robert Ogilvie | Today was a slight give back following four advancing days

Saturday, March 14, 2009
Market Wrap
Check your Expiration Date
By Jim Brown | The short covering spike that started on Tuesday found some legs and twice overcame a halfhearted attempt by sellers to blunt the rising bullish sentiment. The result was a 10% rally and the best week in months.

Thursday, March 12, 2009
Market Wrap
Bulls Follow Through
By Keene H. Little | After Tuesday's strong rally and Wednesday's consolidation we got a nice follow-through day today. It's the best 3-day performance this stock market has seen Santa dropped in.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Market Wrap
Two In A Row
By Jim Brown | JP Morgan made it two in a row when CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC that JP Morgan Chase was also profitable in January and February. The markets were drifting deeper into negative territory when the comment reversed the trend and pushed the indexes back into the green.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Market Wrap
Finally Some Good News
By Jim Brown | Citibank, Ben Bernanke and Barney Frank all made comments that gave the markets a reason to rally today. The Dow gained +5.8%, S&P 6.3% and Nasdaq 7%. Is it a real rally or just a monster short squeeze?

Monday, March 9, 2009
Market Wrap
Today's Uncertainty Follows Friday's Uncertainty
By Robert Ogilvie | The media has been working hard to spin good news for once. Perhaps they have capitulated from doom and gloom to cautiously optimistic.

Saturday, March 7, 2009
Market Wrap
Shorts Scramble As Week Ends
By Jim Brown | Shorts took profits at the close on Friday rather than leave themselves exposed to possible news events over the weekend. The Dow rebounded +165 points from the lows to limp back into positive territory.

Thursday, March 5, 2009
Market Wrap
The Bulls Have Gone on Strike
By Keene H. Little | The selling overwhelmed the buying (again), and the point count shows a steep decline today, but the selling is showing waning momentum. We just might be near a turn.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Market Wrap
Was That A Bottom?
By Jim Brown | After a dismal bout of bearishness could it be that we just saw a bottom form? Upticks in China for the third month and rumors of a new stimulus program helped to power a little short covering on Wednesday.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Market Wrap
Market Timer In Chief
By Jim Brown | Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and the Market Timer in Chief all spoke before the cameras today and left the markets as confused as before they spoke.

Monday, March 2, 2009
Market Wrap
Markets Extend their Decline Near 1995 Support Levels
By Robert Ogilvie | Once again, we are following the money flow in order to look where opportunities lie.

Saturday, February 28, 2009
Market Wrap
Citigroup, GE, GDP
By Jim Brown | It is a miracle the markets did not lose more ground than they did after Citigroup diluted existing shareholders to 26%, GE cut their dividend by 68% and the GDP for Q4 posted the strongest drop since 1982.

Thursday, February 26, 2009
Market Wrap
Volume Leads the Way
By Keene H. Little | When you look for confirmation of a move you like to see volume supporting the direction. Unfortunately the market is still showing higher volume for the declines than for the rallies.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Market Wrap
Buyers Vanish Near The Close
By Jeff Bailey | US stocks finished mixed-to-lower Wednesday with the broader S&P 500 (SPX.X) giving back a modest gain late in the session ...

Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Market Wrap
Love Potion Number Nine
By Jim Brown | Thank you Ben Bernanke. During Bernanke's semiannual testimony to lawmakers today he downplayed the potential for nationalizing the banks. After saying the government would rather retain private ownership the financial sector exploded higher.

Monday, February 23, 2009
Market Wrap
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly... of the Market
By Robert Ogilvie | It is a very tough environment right now to trade. The markets are so oversold that it is difficult to short from here in fears that some news release from the Fed will spur a rally. The other side of it is that almost everyone is hoping that will happen. I learned early that there are three ways to lose money in the market; hope, fear and greed.

Saturday, February 21, 2009
Market Wrap
Nationalization A Necessary Step?
By Jim Brown | Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, told Bloomberg News that nationalization of major banks could be a necessary step at least for a short time. That comment sent the major banks down -30% and the Dow to the lowest close in six years.

Thursday, February 19, 2009
Market Wrap
DOW Closes at Lowest Level since October 2002
By Keene H. Little | The headlines released after today's close highlighted the fact that the DOW closed today below 7500 which makes it the lowest close since October 2002. How's that for a trip around the block in 6-1/2 years?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Market Wrap
Precious Metals Respond To Stimulus
By Jeff Bailey | Stocks finished mixed to lower after Tuesday's sharp declines, with regional banks as depicted by the S&P Banks Index (BIX.X) 64.43 -1.91% yet to find any type of prolonged stimulus ...

Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Market Wrap
November Retest In Progress
By Jim Brown | The markets reacted to negative economic news from around the world with the Dow falling to 7553 and only one point away from the November closing low. Even the signing of the spending bill could not keep the markets off their lows.

Saturday, February 14, 2009
Market Wrap
Much Ado About Nothing
By Jim Brown | President Obama rescued the market from an early loss on Friday when he said he would announce a foreclosure prevention plan next Wednesday. The Dow was down -85 points and headed lower when the news broke. After a brief rally back into positive territory it closed back at that -85 level.

Thursday, February 12, 2009
Market Wrap
Fear Factor
By Keene H. Little | We'll take a look at the volatility indexes today to see what the message from the market may be telling us here.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Market Wrap
Still In Limbo
By Jeff Bailey | The major averages finished mixed-to-higher Wednesday in quiet trade as investor frustration with the Treasury's lack of details on how it plans to ease the lingering credit crisis continues.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Market Wrap
Market Stress Test
By Jim Brown | The markets did not like the Geithner plan with a unified stress test for banks and the lack of specific details in the plan. The market responded with a stress test of its own that sent investors into cardiac arrest.

Monday, February 9, 2009
Market Wrap
While we Wait
By Robert Ogilvie | Another uneventful day with a lot of news pending.

Saturday, February 7, 2009
Market Wrap
Irrational Exuberance Redux
By Jim Brown | Dozens of rumors about the impending bank plan from Treasury Secretary Geithner along with details leaked about the Term Asset-backed Loan Facility (TALF) and the impending vote on the stimulus bill all combined to send expectations to an irrational level on Friday.

Thursday, February 5, 2009
Market Wrap
Bonds Are Not Cooperating with the Fed (Yet)
By Keene H. Little | Greenspan was fond of saying the bond market is a conundrum--it usually did not do what he wanted. Today we have a bond market that's not "listening" to Bernanke either.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Market Wrap
Bank of America Hits 52-week Low
By Jeff Bailey | Stocks opened higher at Wednesday's open, but another new low for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) $4.70 -11.32% soured bullish sentiment ...

Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Market Wrap
Short Squeeze #6
By Jim Brown | The markets rallied on Tuesday in the face of bad news but I seriously doubt this was anything other than the sixth bear market short squeeze of 2009. Hopefully I am proved wrong before the week is out.

Monday, February 2, 2009
Market Wrap
Technology is having a Stealth Rally!
By Robert Ogilvie | Today was a relatively slow day lacking any conviction from the bounce from the early morning lows.

Saturday, January 31, 2009
Market Wrap
Not What You Expected?
By Jim Brown | Only two weeks after the inaugural honeymoon began the dissention and unrealized expectations have begun. The Obama bloom has quickly faded and the harsh reality of politics appeared and Wall Street was not happy with what they saw.

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Market Wrap
Treasury's Version of Good Cop, Bad Cop
By Keene H. Little | After Wednesday's strong rally, based on hopes the "bad bank" idea would solve the financial crisis, Thursday dashed those hopes and the slippery slope of hope continues.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Market Wrap
An InTOXICating DAY!
By Jeff Bailey | The rally that began just after yesterday's close carried forward as market participants dealt with another possible "switch" in Treasury policy...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Market Wrap
Bad News, Good Market
By Jim Brown | A record low in Consumer Confidence rattled the markets at the open but the impact was only temporary. Better than expected earnings reports turned the market around and for the second consecutive day the markets closed higher.

Monday, January 26, 2009
Market Wrap
Follow the Money
By Robert Ogilvie | The path to a good trade is found by following where the money was and may be heading.

Saturday, January 24, 2009
Market Wrap
That Was Fun
By Jim Brown | The markets displayed a complete lack of direction with a week of alternating moves reminiscent of trading in November. Daily triple digit reversals pushed the VIX back to a high of 57 on volume of more than 10 billion shares per day.

Thursday, January 22, 2009
Market Wrap
Mr. Softee Lands a Hard Blow
By Keene H. Little | As if this morning's economic reports weren't enough, Microsoft announced earnings in the morning instead of after the bell and the market was not happy with their report. The market spent the rest of the day trying to get up off the mat.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Market Wrap
What's BIG and BLUE and GREEN All Over?
By Jeff Bailey | "Here I come to save the day ... "

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Market Wrap
Honeymoon Is Over
By Jim Brown | After months of buildup and euphoric levels of anticipation president elect Obama became President Obama and that oath of office signaled the end of the honeymoon and the rocky start of four years of service to the American people. Unfortunately this is where the rubber meets the road.

Saturday, January 17, 2009
Market Wrap
Financial Faux Pas
By James Brown | It was a newsworthy Friday for January's option expiration weekend. Headlines were flying fast and furious. Stocks couldn't make up their mind.

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Market Wrap
Late Opex Reversal
By Keene H. Little | For the past couple of years we've seen the Thursday prior to opex as a head-fake day with a reversal often catching traders leaning the wrong way. It looks like the reversal day was a week late this time.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Market Wrap
A Look at 2009 and Beyond
By Keene H. Little | Last Thursday I looked at what 2009 could bring us (an expected rally after a new low) and before I put my crystal ball away I thought it would be a worthwhile exercise to look beyond 2009 as well.

Monday, January 12, 2009
Market Wrap
Bulls Need Financials To Rally. Now!
By Jeff Bailey | Stocks started the week out on a negative note with energy and financials helping to drag the broader S&P 500 (SPX.X) lower by 20-points, or -2.25% ...

Saturday, January 10, 2009
Market Wrap
Better Than Expectations
By Jim Brown | The December jobs report was ugly but not as ugly as most people expected. The whisper numbers of 600K to 700K were over exaggerated but the actual tone of the report still depressed the market.

Thursday, January 8, 2009
Market Wrap
Choppy Recovery Off the Lows
By Keene H. Little | Two days in a row with a gap down opening sets a bearish tone to the market. But the bulls were able to recover and get the market back up into the green. Now can they hold it?

Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Market Wrap
Bulls Pull In Their Horns
By Jeff Bailey | The major averages gave back a portion of their Santa Clause rally today with Alcoa (NYSE:AA) $10.89 -10.14% and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) $14.44 -6.05% issuing caution ...

Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Market Wrap
Still Not A Believer
By Jim Brown | The markets struggled again on Tuesday to find traction above current resistance. The Nasdaq and Russell outperformed while the Dow and S&P eked out only minor gains.

Monday, January 5, 2009
Market Wrap
A Stealth Rally!?
By Robert Ogilvie | The internals represented a nice day in the market today with a 2 to 1 Advance/Decline line and bonds selling.

Saturday, January 3, 2009
Market Wrap
No Complaints!
By Jim Brown | I was expecting a much different market once we moved into 2009 but I definitely have no complaints about Friday's results. An unexpected rally is the best kind because it catches the most bears unprepared and racing to cover shorts.

Thursday, January 1, 2009
Market Wrap
Baby Oil
By Jeff Bailey | Stocks finished a bearish year on a bullish note with a better than forecasted weekly jobless claims report helping to bolster some technical buying ...

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