Stocks finished the month of April breaking to new highs, with the S&P 500 rising above 1597. But May Day selling put a temporary hold on the bullish celebration that will certainly occur if the S&P 500 can make a clean break above psychological resistance at 1600. Was May Day the start of the usual “Sell in May and go away” practice? Read more about Sector Detector: Knock, knock, knocking on new highs … but running on fumes

It was a pleasant opening today for the market with positive results and market activity from Europe, as well as generally positive domestic economic reports this morning.  In particular, pending home sales were up 1.5% versus an expected 0.1% and last month’s -1.0%.  Personal spending was a little better-than-expected while personal income was but a tad less-than-expected and lower than last month.  The week will be fairly full as companies continue to r Read more about What the Market Wants: Risk-on

That’s been hard to figure lately.  Uncertainty has not eased.  Not in Europe.  Not in the Middle East. Not in China or Japan. Not in the U.S., with a dead-heat election battle and unknown future Congressional dynamics.  Companies overall continue to beat earnings, mostly, and miss on revenues.  Now there is a certainty: earnings cannot keep going up if revenues keep going down. Read more about What the Market Wants: Looking for Certainty Amidst Uncertainty

Last week’s events moved the market in a positive direction.  ECB President Draghi did indeed get approval to implement his sterilized bonds to assist weaker European nations from defaulting on their sovereign debt. Read more about What the Market Wants: What Else Does the Fed Need?

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced a bond-buying plan Thursday that lifted U.S. Markets to levels we haven’t seen since 2007. China followed suit with a post on the National Development and Reform Commission’s (NDRC) website announcing plans to boost infrastructure spending.  Together, these announcements helped investors feel better about global growth. 

Just as the market was feeling like the “sky was the limit,” the US payroll report this morning was so bad that the market reacted like “a rebel without a clue” by continuing higher.   The reason for today’s continued rally “into the great wide open” is predicated on the belief that the Fed will announce some version of QE3 next week.  Read more about Dark Horse Trader's Hedge: Market Moves Into the Great Wide Open, Option Review September

We’re coming down to the final sleepy weeks of a relatively uneventful summer in the equity markets. Volume is quite low, as is expected this time of year with investment managers in vacation mode. Nevertheless, the S&P 500 has now recovered all of its losses since the “Sell-in-May” crowd hit the market hard, sending the S&P 500 falling 9% from a close of 1406 on May 1 to 1278 on June 1. Read more about Sector Detector: Stocks complete summer recovery from "Sell-in-May" crowd

When I look into your eyes

It’s like watching the night sky

Or a beautiful sunrise

There’s so much they hold

And just like them old stars Read more about I Won’t Give Up On Freeport-McMoRan and Western Digital

The ISM reports showed mixed signals this time as the PMI (manufacturing) missed the consensus mark by 0.3% at 49.8%, and the NMI (non-manufacturing) beat the consensus by 0.6% at 52.6%. Although muted as usual, the Dow's initial reactions were in the same direction as the consensus miss and later, the consensus beat. Read more about 15 Stocks For Bulls And 15 For Bears, Based On ISM

Last week, neither Fed Chairmen Bernanke nor European Central Bank (ECB) President Draghi committed their respective organizations to a specific solution to the economic woes of the U.S. or Europe. President Draghi’s firm statement last week that “the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the Euro” lacked substance. Yet, that statement sent the S&P 500 roaring up +3.56% over July 26 and 27. Read more about What the Market Wants: A Lesson in Listening to Politically Inspired Chatter

Markets attempted to rebound on Wednesday after two days of fear and loathing, but extreme weakness in Apple (AAPL) held back the Nasdaq and S&P 500 while the Dow was able to finish positive. Whether this is just a dead cat bounce remains to be seen. Without a doubt, this week has changed the technical picture from bullish to iffy. Read more about Sector Detector: Bulls lose traction as skids get “Greeced”