Stock Market Blog -Oct 16th

The rally continued this week, making it the best week in over two years, and sending the bears scrambling for cover! We could see more of the same this week, as companies are expected to report good earnings.

GOOG popped $40 after reporting earnings.
Next week is Apple's turn!
New all time highs: AAPL, AMZN, BBBY, DECK, IBM, MAKO, QCOR, SBUX
All time lows: QID (inverse, leveraged 2x Nasdaq 100)

New Unemployment Claims were up, coming in at 404,000 (chart)
This week, four more banks were shut down by the FDIC (list)

Next week: Economic reports  Options expiration on Friday!
Earnings season continues, with the following companies among those reporting:

MON: C, WFC, IBM, HAL
TUE: AAPL, BAC, EMC, GS, INTC, ISRG, JNJ, KO, YHOO
WED: AXP, MO, MS, UTX
THU: FCX, MSFT, T
FRI: GE, HON, MCD, VZ

Market Commentary

Last week's comment: "We could see some follow up to this week's rally, taking the S&P500 to around 1225" -guess what? It closed almost at 1225!

Next week we could see more up-side action if earnings are good, and if there are no surprises from Europe. We also get earnings reports from all the big banks. AAPL could also rally like GOOG did last week, and Friday is options expiration, so I suspect the market will hold up (squeezing all the bears). The Nasdaq broke out above the trading range we have been stuck in since early August, a good sign for the bulls. Watch for a potential top in IBM

This week's charts:
NASDAQ two week rally
 
Commodities (charts):
Oil prices were up, closing around $86.80
Natural gas rallied from a low, closing near $3.70
Gold was up, closing near $1683
The 30 year Bond futures were down gain, closing near $138.40
The US Dollar was down, closing near 76.87, and pushing stocks up

NEWS:
Dow, Nasdaq finish ahead for 2011
Stocks: A Critical Showdown Begins On Monday
Stocks brace for earnings deluge
Consumer Sentiment Falls, Expectations at 30-Year Low

Kinder Morgan to Purchase El Paso for Approximately $38 Billion
For Fannie and Freddie, the Party Goes On
Muni meltdown? No. But don't ignore risks.
Raj Rajaratnam, hedge fund billionaire, gets 11-year sentence for insider trading
Occupy Wall Street movement spreads with demonstrations in dozens of cities across the globe

S&P Downgrades Spain's Debt Rating, Citing Weak Growth