Stock Market Blog -Feb 19th

The markets rallied again this week, helped by good unemployment numbers on Thursday.
High oil and gas prices though could begin to dampen market sentiment, along with the fact that the market has been in a non-stop rally mode since before Christmas. What happens with Greece and the Euro next week will probably have the biggest influence on market direction however.

New all time highs:
AAPL, AAP, ABV, APC, BWLD, CCI, CMI, CVS, EC, GPC, PAA, PM, TJX, V, and more...
All time lows:  FAZ, QID, SDS, TZA -the usual suspects!
Pops: AAPL; DELL, INTC, and MSFT broke out too!
Drops:  GILD. Also, VVUS dropped & popped!

Weekly Unemployment claims

Next week: Economic reports
Markets are closed on Monday.
Earnings reports next week: CHK, DELL, DECK, HD, HPQ, MNST, JCP, M, TGT, WMT



Market Commentary


Looks like the S&P 500 is still aiming to take out the May 2011 highs before we see any pullback (as I mentioned last week); also the IWM still has some catching up to do if it is to take out the 2011 high. From a 'technical' perspective, there are no signals indicating a turn in the market yet, so keep your finger off the trigger if you are inclined to go short! Many 'shorts' have been burned in this extended rally so far. The DOW is flirting with 13000 and the NASDAQ with 3000.

After hitting $500 for the first time, AAPL may now be showing signs of topping after a huge 1 day swing in price from top to bottom last week!


This week's charts:
S&P 500 -still ready to take out the 2011 high
INTC and MSFT at multi-year highs(below)
HD rally


Commodities/Futures (charts):
Oil prices rallied, closing near $103.24
Natural Gas rallied, closing near $2.65
Gold was mostly unchanged, closing near $1725
The 30 year Bond futures dropped, closing near $142.09
The US Dollar was mostly unchanged, closing near 79.46

NEWS:
Stocks Log Weekly Gain, Dow Just Shy of 13,000
Nasdaq nears 3,000 on wings of Apple, Microsoft
Nasdaq hits decade high
Wall St Week Ahead: Stocks may strain to hold 9-mo highs
Which Stocks Look Ready to Pop and Drop with Earnings Next Week?
S&P 500 Hits 1350 Again, But Can It Hold This Time?
Is Apple (AAPL) a $17,000 Stock?
What Buffett Didn't Tell You

Treasury to sell $99 billion in notes, bonds
Under Twist, The Fed Has Purchased 91% Of All Gross Issuance In Long-Dated US Treasurys
China Cuts Bank Reserve Ratios
Why Are the Chinese Buying Record Quantities of Gold?
Oil ends at 9-month high on geopolitics, Greece
Greece is broken, and can’t be fixed

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