Bryan Leighton's Blog – February 2010 Archive (33)

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Market Technical Strategies And A Look Ahead.

The markets ended the last week of February 2010 almost flat. The SPDR

S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) ended the week -$0.40. While they were

basically flat, that does not describe the crazy movement and wild

swings the markets displayed during the week. Between the wild swings

in the U.S Dollar and the horrid economic news, the market barely held

on. Looking back on the week, it almost seemed too perfect. All the

bad economic news, the dollars simple trickling lower… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 28, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

The Money Play Is Palm. (NASDAQ:PALM)

Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) has been under intense sell pressure since the

January 9th, 2010 high was made at $14.17. Since that point, the stock

price has fallen to a low today of $6.07. This is just slightly off

the 52 week low of $5.85. The 5 week dramatic fall in Palm, Inc.

culminated with a warning yesterday from the company that fiscal

third-quarter and full-year revenues would be far below Wall Street

estimates.



From the stock action in the previous… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 26, 2010 at 11:58am — No Comments

The Dollar Holds All The Cards

Since the U.S. Dollar has fallen lower by more than 0.40 cents off the

highs to go negative on the session the major indexes have traded

higher. Many commodity stocks such as Freeport McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX),

U.S. Steel (NYSE:X), and the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) have moved

higher on this dollar decline.



There is also a rumor on the street that China is buying gold from the

International Monetary Fund. This has given all gold mining stocks such

as… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 25, 2010 at 3:56pm — No Comments

Deja vu from February 2007 (NYSE:SPY), (NYSE:DIA)

Many traders and investors will remember the crash on February 27th,

2007. Back then at that time the market declined as the sub prime

crisis began to surface and many countries including Iceland had huge

exposure to these toxic assets. On that day the SPDR Trust (NYSE:SPY)

declined about 5 points, which is equal to about a 50 point decline on

the S&P 500. The Diamonds Trust (NYSE:DIA) which tracks the Dow

Jones Industrial Average declined about 4 points, which… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 25, 2010 at 1:26pm — 1 Comment

Top 3 Setups For Legendary Swings. (NYSE:XOM), (NYSE:VZ), (NASDAQ:CNLG), (NYSE:T)

The markets continue to get hammered today with the DOW lower by 1.65%,

Nasdaq down 1.40% and the S&P 500 dropping 1.50%. This is all on

the back of economic data released over the last three days that has

stunned Wall Street. Consumer Confidence shocked, New Home Sales

jolted and today, Jobless Claims slammed. Double dip? Quite possible!



While the markets are dropping for the second day in the last three,

solid risk to reward swing trades are emerging at… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 25, 2010 at 12:13pm — No Comments

Economic News Shocks But Gives Forth Opportunity. (NASDAQ:FSLR), (NASDAQ:QCOM), (NYSE:UUP)

The markets are significantly lower on a strong dollar (NYSE:UUP) and shockingly poor economic news.



Jobless Claims were released at 8:30am and showed a sharp increase to

496,000. This is now approaching the 500,000 number again, from

December 2009, when the market cheered numbers near 400,000. This was

a surprise to Wall Street and has caused an increase sell. Durable

Goods ex-transportation was -0.6% from +2.00% in December.



After the last few days,… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 25, 2010 at 9:19am — No Comments

The Big Bad Double Dip Is Coming. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN)

After the Consumer Confidence numbers came out at a pathetic 46 from

56.5 last month, many began to wonder where the disconnect was? The

President and his economic team have said the economy is on the road to

recovery while many firms on Wall Street have reported stellar

earnings. Yet the consumer apparently is having a major drop in

confidence. This news was released at 10:00am ET yesterday.



Fast forward to today. At 10:00am ET New Home Sales were released.… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 24, 2010 at 12:34pm — 1 Comment

First Solar, Inc. Looks Cloudy As Canadian Solar Inc.Wins No Gold

Solar flares are sputtering from the solar sector of late as margins

look to be under excessive pressure and outlooks appear cloudy. First

Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) reported earnings last week and disappointed

Wall Street. The stock was punished. Today again, First Solar Inc. is

under quite a bit of pressure after an analyst from Wunderlich

Securities started the company with a sell rating and a price target of

$90.



Other companies have seen similar… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 23, 2010 at 9:15am — No Comments

Caution On Retailers. Perry Ellis Intl. Inc. (NASDAQ:PERY), Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY)

Retailers have had quite a run in the last two weeks. Great earnings

and forecasts from the likes of Perry Ellis International, Inc. (NASDAQ:PERY)

and others have propelled the whole sector quickly higher since the

markets overall bottom on February 5th, 2010. As the economy appears

to be back on track after the attempted 10% correction which fell just

short, retailers are trying to squeeze every last penny. The… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 22, 2010 at 3:06pm — No Comments

Stock Alert: Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) Runs Through Even Number $500...Sell? Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)

About a week ago I wrote an article noting that Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU)

was nearing the even number at $500.00. I said it would go through the

$500 even number and then it may be a good shorting/puts opportunity

based on an extreme oversold stock price and technical signals. Sure

enough, Monday is here and Baidu, Inc. is over $500 per share.



Baidu, Inc. is based in China and is an online search engine… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 22, 2010 at 12:38pm — No Comments

Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Stumbles Into Possible Top

Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

is beginning to look like it is in the process of making a top. The

Federal Reserve raised the discount rate a quarter basis point last

week and that may spell trouble for the home improvement retailers.

While the discount rate does not impact them directly, it may signal

the Federal Reserve is nearing a tightening phase on interest rates.

Needless to say this would be extremely bearish for… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 22, 2010 at 9:04am — No Comments

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) Slams Into 50ma Daily...Does It Pullback?

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) slammed into the 50

moving average on the daily chart today as the dollar gapped higher and

then fell sharply back to the flat line. FCX has been on a wild ride

of late in 2010. The stock started 2010 by rallying to a new 52 week

high in early January. It hit $90.55 on January 11th, 2010. After

making that high, FCX fell hard, dropping all the way to the 200 moving

average on the daily chart.



As this… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 19, 2010 at 2:07pm — No Comments

United States Steel Corporation Into Major Resistance And Could Be Near Term Top

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) is hammering into the 60

minute charts 200 moving average. In addition, there is a key double

top here at $52.60 from February 17th, 2010. The combination of both

these levels should work as a great resistance level and could spell a

pull back coming for U.S. Steel.



U.S Steel has rallied from a recent low of $42.32 to a recent high

today of $52.68. This has all happened in just two week. U.S. Steel

is now short… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 19, 2010 at 12:04pm — No Comments

Markets Rebound From Steep Early Losses

After a surprise hike in the discount rate to .75% by the fed, the markets have rallied back strongly. Futures overnight on the S&P 500 were down over 12 points but now just sit down 4 points. After the announcement yesterday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) was below $110.00 but is now hovering prior to the markets open down just $0.36 to $110.55.



The key to the comeback has been the soothing statements from various federal reserve officials and analyst, urging the markets… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 19, 2010 at 10:05am — No Comments

Has President Obama Become A Sell?

During many administrations regardless of political party, the markets

either rallied higher or sold off when someone important from the

executive branch speaks. Since President Obama's inauguration he has

normally appeared on the television at least once a day, often two or

three times during trading hours from 9:30 am – 4:00 pm EST. Since

March 2009 the market has rallied higher nearly every time the

President has spoken. Recently since January 2010 a change in… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 18, 2010 at 2:38pm — No Comments

As Markets Snooze, Money Tree Begins To Shake. (NYSE:SPY), (NYSE:WMT), (NYSE:HPQ)

The markets continue to be held in check as the dollar stays slightly

higher. The general bullish sentiment of late 2009 is back with a

flurry as the markets have rallied off the DOW 10,000. While economic

news this morning was ugly to say the least, stocks continue to be held

in check. Options expiration? Most likely. With big institutions all

about controlling stocks and indexes into options expiration to

maximize profit, the markets often act strangely. What do… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 18, 2010 at 2:27pm — No Comments

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) Earnings Jump But Stock Gets Stuck

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) reported fantastic quarterly sales,

beating analysts expectations. HPQ 's net earnings jumped 25%. to $2.3

billion making them $0.96 per share. Excluding a one time charge,

HPQ earned $1.10 which was above analysts expectations of $1.06 per

share. In addition, Hewlett- Packard upped revenue guidance slightly.

The stock responded positively to this report sending it slightly

higher. The stock is trading up a tiny 0.5% on the… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 18, 2010 at 2:08pm — No Comments

Market Update: In Motion

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) is shooting higher today on the back of

earnings that tripled analysts expectations for the company. The stock

hit a high of $58.05 today in the first 10 minutes of trading only to

slowly fade into lunch. The stock continues to trade higher by $2.75

or 5% but is underneath its highs of the day by about $3.50.

Technically speaking, the stock is short term extended after just a

week ago it hit a low of $48.33. Look for consolidation… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 17, 2010 at 1:26pm — No Comments

Financial Stocks May Start To Lead The Market This Week (NYSE:GS), (NYSE:JPM)

The markets continue to move higher as I had predicted, after the

bottoming tail on February 5th, 2010, I start to look for new

leadership. That leadership may come from financial stocks that have

been muted of late. Today, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

and other stocks are starting to show some leadership. Talk over the

weekend that the Volker Rule, harsh regulations on financial

institutions may be losing… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 16, 2010 at 1:47pm — No Comments

Beware Of New 52 Week Highs During Options Expiration Week





Since mid January the major stock indexes have topped out in the short term and a pullback has been underway. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

hit a high at 10,729 on January 19th, 2010 and made a short term low on

February 5th, 2010 at 9,835. During that time many commodity and

financial stocks lead the declined sharply. However, it is interesting

to point out that since the March 2009 low the market has not had a

single 10 percent… Continue

Added by Bryan Leighton on February 16, 2010 at 11:44am — No Comments

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