Stock Market Blog -Oct 21st

The market was up earlier in the week, but dropped on Friday. Earnings disappointments from IBM, INTC, CMG, MCD, and GOOG contributed to the selling pressure.The Technology sector has been hit hard lately. We could see the 'up-channel' formed since June, start to break down here.

 
New all time highs: ?
All time lows: CARB, DANG, ZIP
Pops: TRV
Drops:  AMD, ALGN, CMG, FTNT, GOOG, IBM, MCD, MLNX, MRVL

AAPL -4 weeks of declines (post iPhone5 top)

Next week: Economic reports  5 central Bank meetings next week, including the US Fed...

Earnings reports next week:
Mon:  CAT, FCX, YHOO, TXN,
Tue: AMGN, FB, DD, MMM, NFLX, PNRA, UTX, UPS
Wed:  BA, BMY, LLY, T
Thu:  AAPL, AMZN, COG, COP, CL, EXPE, MO, BIIB, PG, POT, S, UA,
Fri:  MRK

Market Commentary

Earnings reports next week will again drive stock prices. The S&P 500 did in fact put in that double top I mentioned last week (it actually turned into a triple top). We could see more downside action, with support in the 1400 to 1400 area for the S&P 500. The NASDAQ looks much weaker, though it is also near a support level. All eyes are on AAPL as they report earnings on Thursday, and announce the iPad Mini on Tuesday. AAPL has dropped almost 100 points since its high of around $705. Also, Microsoft is launching Windows 8 next week

This week's charts:

Weekly Unemployment claims
S&P 500 -sideways channel now
OptionsMakeSense

Health Care -double top?

Commodities/Futures (charts):
Crude Oil was down, closing near $90.05
Natural Gas was mostly unchanged, closing near $3.62
Gold dropped a bit, closing near $1724
The 30 year Bond dropped, closing near $147.56
The US Dollar was mostly unchanged, closing near 79.69

NEWS:
Wall Street Week Ahead: Investors face earnings blitz with dread
Can the Market Hold On Amid Wave of Falling Profits?
U.S. Jobless Claims Rise 46,000 on Seasonal Shift
Apple's iPad mini: What to expect
Year of the electric car blows a fuse
Remembering the Crash of '87