Stock Market update -Dec 27th

The market clawed its way back up this week to recoup some of the losses from the prior week, but the overall trend since early November still remains to the down-side. With another short trading week coming, along with light volume, I don't expect anything to change. We'll see what next year brings as earnings reports kick off in January.

Gas prices dropped below $2 per gallon, even with Oil making a slight rebound. We have yet to see the fallout from lost jobs and bankruptcies in the energy space.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New all time highs:  KR, MCD, 

All time lows:  
Pops:          Drops:     
Mergers/Deals:  

Next week:  Economic reports, End of the year!

Earnings:            

This week's charts:

... 2015 performance ...

S&P 500 -downtrending?

CBOE VIX 
10yr Interest Rates -
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)
Fear & Greed Index

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas was up, closing near 2.04 -nice rally

Crude Oil rallied, closing near 38.12 -nice rally this week

Gold was up, closing near 1075

The 30 year Bond was down a bit, closing near 155.06

The US Dollar was down a bit,  closing near 98.04

NEWS:

Stocks close mixed, post best week since November
It’s time to take money off the table: Louise Yamada
Economy not ‘normal’ despite steady progress in 2015
Why YouTube Is Twice as Valuable as Netflix
Facebook, Google apps reign over 2015
Google Partners With Ford To Build Autonomous Cars

4 Stocks to Buy (and What to Sell) to Outperform the Market in 2016
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' makes $1 billion in a record 12 days
Jim Cramer -- Nike Is a Victim of Its Success
Man who called Apple’s fall now sees this

Stock Market update -Dec 20th

The market rallied ahead of the Fed meeting on Wednesday, then gave it all back on Thursday and Friday, dropping back below last Friday's low, as well as the mid-November lows. We continue to be in a slow downtrend since the big October rally.

Oil prices continue to drop, affecting markets worldwide.

New all time highs:  CUBE, 

All time lows:  KMI & lots of energy names..
Pops:          Drops:     
Mergers/Deals:  

Next week:  Economic reports,
Earnings:            

This week's charts:

...

S&P 500 -going lower still?

CBOE VIX 
10yr Interest Rates -
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)
Fear & Greed Index

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas was down, closing near 1.76 -holding near all time lows!

Crude Oil dropped, closing near 34.73 -it's now well below $40!

Gold was down, closing near 1065  

The 30 year Bond was down a bit, closing near 156.37

The US Dollar was up,  closing near 98.72

NEWS:

Dow drops more than 350, stocks lower for week as oil slides
Global stocks fall on global growth worries, dollar slips
Oil at multi-year lows, precious metals firm after Fed hike

'Star Wars' blows past records, hauls in $250 million domestic, $517M global

Here's what's so troubling about Apple: Technician
Apple's Tim Cook calls tax criticism 'political crap' on '60 Minutes'
Cramer: Apple has taken a beating. Still worth it?
Cramer: Be skeptical of any upward market moves
The Fed hike will hit these two currencies

Stock Market update -Dec 13th

The market gave up some ground this week and fell below the mid-November lows -not a good sign . Looks like we could be closing out the year with zero gains, though the Fed announcement next week could change that -the chart action doesn't look good though. We've struggled all year but made no gains so far. Bonds were up a bit sending rates lower!

Oil fell to a 7 year low, helping to send equity markets lower too. Natural Gas also hitting lows!

New Highs/New Lows -dropping below Zero this year!

New all time highs:  ADBE?, SWHC, 

All time lows:  lots of energy names..
Pops:          Drops:     
Mergers/Deals:  Dow Chemical and DuPont announced a merger.

Next week:  Economic reports, Watch for the big Fed Interest Rate announcement on Wednesday!
Earnings:            

This week's charts:

A tale of 2 stocks! AMZN vs WMT

Junk Bonds

...

S&P 500 -going lower still?

CBOE VIX 
10yr Interest Rates -falling!
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)
Fear & Greed Index

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas was down, closing near 1.98 -near all time lows!

Crude Oil dropped, closing near 35.36 -it's now well below $40!

Gold was down, closing near 1073  

The 30 year Bond was up, closing near 157.43 

The US Dollar dropped,  closing near 97.57

Does this tell us something??

NEWS:

Dow closes down about 300, S&P off nearly 2% as oil slumps
Claims rise to 5-month high, trend still favorable ...(unemployment)
The Next Leg Of The Junk Bond Crisis: Third Avenue "Focused Credit Fund" Liquidates, Gates Redemptions
Third Avenue junk fund blowup exposes risks of unsellable assets

Walmart Pay Takes on Apple, Google
Facebook ready to tackle the workplace
Yahoo reverses course on plan to spin off Alibaba stake
Three huge challenges facing Apple in 2016
Robot surgery: Google's Verily to give doctors superhuman precision

Stock Market update -Dec 6th

The market was down this week, but recovered everything with a big rally on Friday. Seems like traders liked the Jobs report, and maybe the ECB action too. The Dollar dropped, along with Bonds (and Oil, on OPEC). Gold rallied, as did the Euro, catching traders off guard. This has been a very difficult and unpredictable market to trade.

Don't be surprised to see the market rally above 2100 on the S&p500 into the year end. The Small-caps probably have the most to gain if there is a rally. Gold & miners (GDX, GDXJ) seem to be in rally mode for now too.

New all time highs:  KR, LUV, MCD, TSN, ULTA, COST, CH, XRAY, ALK, ADSK, NTES, CLX, HRL...  
All time lows:  GPRO, FEYE, DYN, KMI, NRG, SDRL, 
Pops:          Drops:     
Mergers/Deals:  

Next week:  Economic reports,
Earnings:    ADBE, TOL,          

This week's charts:

...

S&P 500 -heading back up to 2100?

CBOE VIX -falling
10yr Interest Rates -rising?
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)
Fear & Greed Index

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas was down a bit, closing near 2.18 -near all time lows!

Crude Oil dropped, closing near 40.14 -heading below $40?

Gold was up, closing near 1085 -what happened to 1000! 

The 30 year Bond was down a bit, closing near 155.12 

The US Dollar dropped,  closing near 98.28

NEWS:

Stocks surge 2% to close higher for week after strong jobs, dovish Draghi (vid)
ECB disappoints markets with bare-minimum easing package
Google Adds 842 Megawatts of Green Energy to Power Data Centers
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan to give away 99 percent of their Facebook stock, worth $45 billion

Stock Market update -Nov 29th

The market was pretty much flat this week, as it maybe works its way up to all time highs again. Next week could be an eventful one with both Fed speak and the Jobs report, along with other economic reports. Gold and commodities continue to fall as the Dollar rises. DIS dropped a bit.

New all time highs:    ADBE, CBOE, EW, HD, NKE, TSN.
All time lows:  BTU, DYN
Pops:          Drops:     
Mergers/Deals:  

Next week:  Economic reports, Jobs report on Friday! Fed this week too...
Earnings:      AMBA, BOX, DG, KR, MDT,  

This week's charts:

...

S&P 500 -heading back up to 2100?

CBOE VIX -falling
10yr Interest Rates -?
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)
Fear & Greed Index

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas was up a bit, closing near 2.22 -near all time lows!

Crude Oil was mostly unchanged, closing near 41.77

Gold was down, closing near 1056 -now maybe approaching 1000! 

The 30 year Bond was down a bit, closing near 154.25 

The US Dollar was up,  closing near 100.06

NEWS:

Stocks close narrowly mixed in lowest trade volume day of year
All of this will drive markets in 'most important' week of year
Bond investors look to big week ahead

Black Friday sales slip from year prior: ShopperTrak
China's Black Friday sees it revisit August lows
Gold close to lowest in nearly six years on stronger dollar

Stock Market update -Nov 22nd

Equity markets rallied this week, shrugging off terrorist events in France and Mali. Bonds also rallied. Gold and Oil dropped. GOOGL closed at an all time high at 777!

New all time highs:    ADBE, ATVI, COST, GOOGL, HD, KMB, LUV, LMT, NTES, NDAQ, TRV & more...
All time lows:  BTU, NMBL, PSTG, X
Pops:   ANF       Drops:    CMG, DKS, NMBL, 
Mergers/Deals:  

Next week:  Economic reports,
Earnings:      DE, DLTR, HPE, HPQ, TIF

This week's charts:

...

S&P 500 -?

CBOE VIX -falling
10yr Interest Rates -rising!
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)
Fear & Greed Index

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas was down, closing near 2.14 -near all time lows!

Crude Oil was up a bit, closing near 41.46

Gold was down a bit, closing near 1076 -now maybe approaching 1000! 

The 30 year Bond was up, closing near 154.46 

The US Dollar was up,  closing near 99.67

NEWS:

TheStreet: After Another Strong Rally, Are There Any Stocks Left to Buy?
Apple now at over 100 million iPhones in use in the US

Stock Market update -Nov 15th

We had a down week in the market, taking back a lot of the gains we saw earlier. We'll see how far it goes. The retailers like M, JWN, JCP were hit pretty hard. Bonds rebounded, but Oil continued to drop, approaching $40 again.

PCLN saw a big drop after reporting earnings. VRX continued to slide. AAPL also showing signs of weakness.

New all time highs:    TAP
All time lows:  FIT, GPRO, GRPN, LOCO
Pops:          Drops:      CSCO, M, JWN, PCLN, PRGO
Mergers/Deals:  

Next week:  Economic reports,
Earnings:      HD, CRM, GMCR

This week's charts:

US Steel -all time low

Gold Miners have been hit hard too

...and Agriculture commodities

S&P 500 -topped?

CBOE VIX -
10yr Interest Rates -rising!
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)
Fear & Greed Index

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas was mostly unchanged, closing near 2.38 -near all time lows!

Crude Oil was down again, closing near 40.73

Gold was down a bit, closing near 1083 -now maybe approaching 1000! 

The 30 year Bond bounced, closing near 153.53 

The US Dollar fell,  closing near 98.88

NEWS:

Dow closes down 200; stocks post worst week since August
Nordstrom's worst day in 15 years
Apple's Former Beats Music Service Officially Ending on November 30
Alibaba just proved it's more than just some Chinese company

Euro slips to 6 1/2-month lows after Paris attacks
Gold eyes fourth weekly loss as investors count on Fed rate rise
The commodity slump in 4 scary charts
Japan's economy is back in recession...again

Stock Market update -Nov 8th

Markets continued to rise this week. The S&P500 is almost back to being positive for the year, and to a new all time high. The Jobs report on Friday was far better than expected, causing Bonds to drop, with the expectation of an Interest rate increase in December. The Euro currency and Gold continued to drop as well.

Where do we go from here? We have some more earnings due out this week, but it's anyone's guess as to whether the rally will continue for yet another week. We are close to resistance levels and very overbought, so we could maybe see some consolidation or pullback.

FB hit an all time high after reporting strong earnings on Thursday. AMZN continued to soar!
FEYE dropped after earnings. VRX continued to drop.

New all time highs:   AMZN, CDW, CTRP, EBAY, LUV, HD, TTWO, TRV
All time lows:  CDE, ETSY,
Pops:          Drops:      
Mergers/Deals:  

Next week:  Economic reports, 

This week's charts:

Earnings:      AAP, CSCO, M, PCLN

S&P 500 -still moving up

CBOE VIX -continues to drop
10yr Interest Rates -rising!
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)
Fear & Greed Index -greed!

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas was down then back up, closing near 2.35 -near all time lows!

Crude Oil was down, closing near 44.52

Gold was down again, closing near 1088 -now maybe approaching 1000! 

The 30 year Bond plummeted, closing near 152.34  -higher rates coming?

The US Dollar rallied,  closing near 99.28

NEWS:

Stocks rise for 6th week in a row
Berkshire profit doubles to record on Kraft Heinz
Investors are ignoring the strong dollar at their peril
Can Amazon, Google and Apple still make you money?
YouTube's Robert Kyncl on the 'next few billion' viewers in a mobile world

Stock Market update -Nov 1st

The market continued to climb back up to highs from earlier this year (also all time highs). October saw a huge rally. I think it's ready to take a break maybe, though FB earnings could give the Nasdaq 100 another boost if the stock rallies.

Gold seems to be heading back down again.

New all time highs:    AMZN, AAP, COST, EXPE, FBHS, HRB, SBUX, PSX, PCLN
All time lows:   BTU  
Pops:          Drops:      
Mergers/Deals:  

Next week:  Economic reports,  Monthly Jobs report on Friday!!

This week's charts:

Earnings:      

Mon	V
Tue	TSLA, X
Wed	FB, WFM,
Thu	DIS
Fri	HUM

S&P 500 -still moving back up

CBOE VIX -continues to drop
10yr Interest Rates -dropping?
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas dropped a bit, closing near 2.25 -near all time lows!

Crude Oil was up, closing near 46.36

Gold was down, closing near 1140 -backed off from approaching 1200

The 30 year Bond was down, closing near 156.84  -could be going to 160

The US Dollar was down,  closing near 96.85

NEWS:

U.S. jobs data to hold key to Fed's rate plans
Top trades: Earnings bets for next week
3 stocks near highs still worth buying: Technician

Stock Market update -Oct 25th

The market rallied again this week, boosted by ECB comments about continued monetary easing, another boost from China (lowering interest rates), and huge rallies in big-cap tech stocks after reporting earnings (AMZN, GOOGL, MSFT). Last week I said we could see a rally back to the highs from earlier this the year -well we got it! (except for the small-caps which are lagging quite a bit -IWM). Next week we'll get AAPL earnings -could be a spoiler, or it could add fuel to this rally. Of course no one knows till after it happens!

FB crossed the $100 level for the first time. WTW shares more than doubled! Thanks Oprah.
Big earnings pops this week from AMZN, GOOGL, MSFT, MCD. Meanwhile CMG, IBM, and VMW dropped.

After 15 years, MSFT finally made it back to its 2000 high!

GOOGL:  "Products like Search, Android, Maps, Chrome and YouTube each have over a billion users already, and Google Play crossed that milestone this quarter as well," CEO Sundar Pichai stated.

New all time highs:    
ADBE, AMZN, CRM, DAL, FB, GOOGL, HD, MA, MCD, PEP, RCL, RAI, SBUX, TRV, V, lots!!
All time lows:     
Pops:  AMZN, MSFT, MCD        Drops:     CMG, SKX, SRCL, P, VMW, VRX 
Mergers/Deals:  WD to buy SNDK

Next week:  Economic reports,  Fed meeting,  GDP report

This week's charts:

VRX: former hi-flier

'Tech' leaders...

Earnings:      

Mon
Tue	AAPL, F, PFE, UPS,
Wed	AMGN
Thu	BIDU, COP, MA, SBUX
Fri	CVX, XOM

S&P 500 -still moving back up

CBOE VIX -continues to drop
10yr Interest Rates -dropping
Labor Force Participation Rate (10 year chart)

Commodities/Futures (charts):

Natural Gas dropped a bit, closing near 2.28

Crude Oil was down, closing near 44.73

Gold was down, closing near 1164 -approaching 1200?

The 30 year Bond was down a bit, closing near 157.03  -could be going to 160

The US Dollar was up,  closing near 97.18

NEWS:

Nasdaq closes at two-month high on tech surge
Week Ahead: FOMC Meeting, Apple Earnings and GDP
Alphabet (GOOGL) Stock Surges After Earnings, Stock Buyback
Apple to Report Q4 Earnings: Will It Beat Estimates Again?
Oprah Winfrey Makes $70 Million in One Day From Investing in Weight Watchers