WALL STREET : Dow Breaks 14,000 for First Time in 5 Years

U.S. stocks rally; Dow industrials top 14K

It’s taken nearly 2,000 days and countless migraines, but the Dow Industrials have finally recaptured the 14000 threshold.

Friday was all about jobs and the magical 14K level. For the first time in more than five years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) finished above the mark it has been chasing in recent weeks. It got there with a push from a jobs report that may not have looked strong on the surface, but showed there was more job creation in the U.S. during the final two months of 2012 than originally thought. Friday also marked the fourth-straight week of increases for most of the major indices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 149.21 points, or 1.08%, to 14,009.79, its first finish above the 14,000 level since Oct. 12, 2007. Up 0.8% from the week-ago close, the blue chip index’s weekly win run was its longest running since August. 
The S&P 500 index gained 15.06 points, or 1.01%, to 1,513.17, posting a 0.7% weekly advance, with telecommunications leading the gains among its 10 major industry groups.

The Nasdaq Composite added 36.97 points, or 1.18%, to 3,179.09, up 0.9% from last Friday’s finish.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) finished at 12.90, down a little more than a point, or 9.66%. The VIX broke its four-day streak of finishing north of 13. Friday's downturn pushed the VIX into negative territory for the week, as it fell 0.08%.

For every stock falling nearly four rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where almost 757 million shares traded. Composite volume approached 3.9 billion.

MARKET GURUS' QUOTES
"Everyone was so concerned about the fiscal cliff, yet we had some really strong hiring in the private sector during those months. The Dow’s reaching 14,000 is another positive sign after finishing one of the strongest months on record."

"Friday’s rally followed a solid month for equities, with the S&P 500 gaining 5% in January, which also marked the first full month since 2007 where more money flowed into equity funds than bond funds."

"The significantly stronger payroll gains tell us the economy has a lot more momentum than what we had thought. Beyond the job market, the economy is showing other signs of health. Factories were busier last month than they have been since April 2012. Ford, Chrysler and General Motors all reported double-digit sales gains for last month, their best January in five years."

"Some economists had feared that federal budget standoffs might chill spending, investing and hiring. They worried that companies wouldn't hire and consumers would scale back spending in November and December because big spending cuts and tax increases were to take effect Jan. 1 if the White House and congressional Republicans couldn't reach a budget deal. It turns out, the fears were overblown. In the midst of the budget fight late last year, employers kept hiring."

"U.S. markets aren't the only ones in a major rally: The Japanese Nikkei 225 stock index has risen in each of the last 12 weeks, something that hasn't happened since 1959."
“With sentiment running high, investors who can afford to be a little more patient by adding equities in a measured way will be rewarded over the course of the full year. This could turn into a very good year but it’s probably not going to do it all in February.” 

"Many believe the recent surge of equity inflows could be a bearish sign, especially since ordinary investors tend to lag behind so-called “smart money.” EPFR data showing equity inflows of $18.8 billion this week triggers a “sell signal from our contrarian global flow trading rule.” The last sell signal back in January 2011 was followed by an 8% correction a few weeks later. On average, the signal precedes a 5% correction in global equities over the subsequent four to five weeks."

HAPPY WEEKEND

Wall Street ends 2012 riding high on "cliff" deal optimism

Monday rally closes out year of index gains from 7% to 16%

The markets closed out the year in rally mode amid hopes lawmakers will be able to finalize a deal to avert the fiscal cliff. Despite a tumultuous year-end run, the major market averages all tacked on solid gains for 2012. 

 

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) gained 166.03 points, or 1.28 percent, to end at 13,104.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 23.76 points, or 1.69 percent, to finish at 1,426.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 59.20 points, or 2.00 percent, to close at 3,019.51. For every stock falling six gained on the New York Stock Exchange, where almost 732 million shares traded. Composite volume neared 3.2 billion.

 

The Dow rose 7.3 percent in 2012 and the Nasdaq climbed 15.9 percent. The S&P 500 closed out 2012 with a 13.4 percent gain for the year, compared with a flat performance in 2011. 

 

Market Gurus' Quotes

 

"My personal skepticism, I don't trust anything out of Washington until it is signed, sealed and delivered, and it is not signed, sealed and delivered."

 

“It is a little like trying to catch the flu so you can drop 20 pounds, There are better ways to go about it.”

 

"The worst news could have been the president coming out and saying, 'We don't have a deal and we've giving up,' and he didn't say that."

 

"It seems only fitting that politics, which have shaped the investment climate to such a large extent this year, dominates on this last day of 2012." 

 

“Don’t be overzealous in the new year. It’s better to start off conservatively and see if you can handle it before taking on more trades. It ain't over yet."

 

 WELCOME 2013

FISCAL CLIFF POW-WOW >>> Dow gain on hopeful budget talk

DJIA down for a 4th consecutive week

U.S. stocks climbed Friday, denting weekly losses, as optimistic words followed the opening round of negotiations on averting automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to begin Jan. 1.

“It’s a distinct positive that they came out and said, ‘We talked, we saw some common ground.’ It’s not in either party’s interests to go over the cliff,” said Jim Dunigan, managing executive, investments, PNC Wealth Management, after congressional leaders emerged from the meeting with President Barack Obama and labeled the discussions “constructive.”

Halting a four-session losing run, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 45.93 points, or 0.37%, to 12,588.31, leaving it with a 1.8% weekly loss.

The S&P 500 Index rose 6.55 points, or 0.48%, to 1,359.88, down 1.5% from the week-ago finish.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 16.19 points, or 0.57%, to 2,853.13, off 1.8% for the week.

For every stock on the decline, nearly three rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where 949 million shares traded. Composite volume neared 4 billion.

GOODLUCK

WALL STREET 20 Oct 2012 >>> Dow Swallows Huge Losses On Bleak Blue-Chip Earnings

Parabolic SAR follows price and can be considered a trend
 following indicator. SAR can act like a trailing stop.
Once an uptrend reverses and starts down, stops
continuously falls as long as the downtrend remains
 in place. The SAR dots have yet to appear at the
Extreme Point (Top) of the above chart.
 

DOW SLAMMED BY WEAK EARNINGS
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)  spent the session wallowing in the red, suffering a triple-digit slide and erasing nearly all of its weekly surplus by the close. The (DJIA – 13,343.51)  blazed a steady trail lower today, surrendering 205.43 points, or 1.52%, to pare its weekly gain to just 0.1%. As a result of its worst single-session drop in four months, the blue-chip barometer ended beneath its 50-day moving average for the first time since July 12. Of the Dow's 30 components, only Home Depot (NYSE:HD) bucked the trend, tacking on 0.2%. Of the 29 declining equities, McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) suffered the worst, giving up 4.5% in the wake of disappointing earnings. DJIA had it's weekly surplus shaved to 0.1%.

Likewise, the S&P 500 Index (SPX – 1,433.19) steepened its losses as the session progressed, falling 24.15 points, or 1.66%, before finding a foothold in the 1,430 region. For the week, the SPX edged 0.3% higher. Meanwhile, a batch of lackluster earnings in the tech sector weighed on the Nasdaq Composite (COMP – 3,005.62), which plunged 66.78 points, or 2.17%, to finish at its lowest point since Aug. 6. However, the index maintained its perch atop the round-number 3,000 marker. For the week, the COMP gave up 1.3%.

 

ANALYSTS' QUOTES

 

“And once you get one quarter of negative earnings, it’s a precursor. It’s the cockroach theory: If you find one, there’s probably many more.”

"Today was all about earnings. The reality is we're in the second inning and earnings have stunk. We'd better put our 'rally caps' on and hope earnings come in a lot better next week, or the recent weakness could very well continue."

“We’ve had some household names disappointing on revenue, earnings or guidance. We had about 80 companies reporting this week: financials that did better and technology that did worse. Since this is the worst day we’ve had in months, it reminds us that we haven’t had much volatility or downward pressure since the bottom in June.

“The earnings season is not great right now, but the fundamentals haven’t changed; the U.S. economy is still improving, and it hasn’t gotten worse in Asia or Europe. The market is taking a pause.”

"Poor corporate earnings reports pounded the market today, in a sour end to an otherwise strong week of trading. Disappointing results from three giants of the Dow _ Microsoft, General Electric and McDonald’s _ were to blame. But the broader market fell, too, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fared even worse in percentage terms."

HAPPY WEEKEND

WALL STREET 19/10/2012 >>> Weak Tech, Soild Housing; Stocks End Day On Sour Note

Google & Microsoft Miscued;
Tech Sector Drags Down DJIA
The Dow traded in positive territory several times today, but headed south after lunchtime, finding its first loss in the past five sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA – 13,548.94) spent time on both sides of breakeven today, seeing an intraday high of 13,588.73, and a session low of 13,510.93. But by the time the dust settled, the Dow found itself down 8.06 points, or 0.06%. American Express Company's (NYSE:AXP) earnings-related deficit of nearly 3% headed the index's 11 underperforming issues, while The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) gained 3.6% on a better-than-expected quarterly report, pacing the 18 winning blue chips. The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) remained unchanged.

Both the S&P 500 Index (SPX – 1,457.34) and Nasdaq Composite (COMP – 3,072.87)turned lower today, ending a their three-session uptrend. The SPX slipped 3.57 points, or 0.24%, while the COMP retreated 31.10 points, or 1%. This worst performance of three benchmarks was highlighted by Google Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOG) & Microsoft Corps (MSFT) "premature" earnings release.

 

The CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX – 15.03) aka Fear Index edged south by 0.3%, but bounced from its session low of 14.68.

 

ANALYSTS' QUOTES:

 

"Say what you want about technology lagging today. The reality is, tech has performed poorly for nearly a month now. What stood out to me is that housing once again bucked the trend and had a good day. Some wise advice that is easier said than done is to play the trends until they don't work anymore."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"My friends, tech is going down and housing is going up. I have no clue how that will end, but it's reality. And as traders, it's our job to trade the major trends." 

 

 

 

 

“As we saw in Google’s report, there are lots of high expectations in some of these widely held names, and when they don’t deliver, they can get hit pretty hard.” 

 

“The PC market was challenged this quarter. In addition to a tough economic environment and competitive pressures, OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] drew down their Windows 7 inventory as they began to transition to Windows 8.”

 

”The clear driver on the quarter was PCs, shipments of which declined between 8% and 9%. This hurt Windows as well as Microsoft business division revenue.”

 

 

GOODLUCK & HAPPY TRADING