FUN FUN FUN

A little amusement for the day:

SPX about 12 points off of its recent high, about 25 points off the closing high and 55 off the all time high;

DJIA about 80 off the recent all time high;

OIH up 4+ and about 2 points off the recent high;

BAM up 2.4% and about 1 point off the all time high;

GS up 1.5% and about $3.5 off the all time high;

RWX up 1.4% and about 75 cents off the recent all time high;

EWA - up 1.3% and at the all time high (pennies);

NAZ Comp up about .9% today and about 2,500 points or 50% off its all time high (lol);

MID DAY SCARE

Markets continue higher with a brief blip as briefing.com reported a tidbit from ABCNews.com which of course went unmentioned on CNBC:

"ABCNews.com reports that U.S. and German officials fear terrorists are in advanced planning stages of an attack on U.S. military personnel or tourists in Germany. Law enforcement officials tell the blotter on ABCNews.com that U.S. air marshals have been diverted to proved expanded protection of flights between Germany and the United States."

"The attack would be designed to create high numbers of casualties among both Germans and the U.S. military." said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, a former White House counter terror official.

Strong sectors include xchanges, brokers, emerging markets, oil service, silvers, oils, metals, real estate, tech, semis, small caps and value.

Lower are retail and airlines.

Key stocks generally higher with CME ICE BOT NMX MER GS BSC BAC BAM SLG GOOG AAPL BIDU XOM VLO TSO CAM BHP SSRI DNA CTSH IBN FDX UPS YHOO and EBAY higher while MA JOE INTC TIF KSS TGT WMT and AMGN are lower.

Market internals are very strong with +1,560 on the NYSE and +950 on the NAZ.

The OEX is about 8.5/1.5 up to down while the NDX is about 4/2 green to red.

Volatility indexes down about 5% but still trading above their respective 10 day SMA's.

Bottom line, its a bull market and their is a demand for equities; that is about all one needs to know for now.

THE OPEN

Markets open higher as the DJIA regains about 1/3 of yesterdays losses in about 15 minutes of trading. The RUT is out performing a bit with small value leading the way while the mids are a bit worse.

Strongest sectors include silver stocks, metals, real estate, homies, oils, brokers, exchanges, semis and tech. Lower are big cap biotech, drugs and retail.

The screens are mainly green for key stocks with C MER GS MS BSC CME ICE BOT NMX GE MGM LVS GILD SGP FDX AMZN EBAY GOOG AAPL MSFT BIDU CSCO KLAC all green while MA JPM JOE TIF KSS TGT WMT WYNN AMGN and YHOO all trade red.

Big cap winners include ATI ORCL HON BNI COP WMB NVDA MNST LAMR AMAT VMED and INFY while losers include ATVI WYNN IACI FAST JOYG PDCO AVP LTD BAX JNJ KFT and AXP.

IBD 100 winners include ACH TNH LFL PTI EDU COGO PCU and SYNL losers- HRT FLIR GROW HLTH COH MTOX and CNS.

Market internals on the NYSE look great with 1,400 more winners than losers while good on the NAZ with 740 more up than down.

The OEX with about 4/1 up to down while the NDX is about 2:1.

Vol indexes down about 3% as the fear starts to come out of the markets as the slow upward drift to the old SPX highs probably begins yet again.

THE LIST

Markets are way down on the heels of crummy retail sales (who knew) and lousy trade numbers; oh and yes the markets were/are overbought.

As I type, the major indexes are trading at 2 day RSI's at or near 20 with the QQQQ a bit lower. The 10 day SMA of the VXO is also overbought (stretched about 8% above the SMA), trading near 14 and up over 10% on the day. So probably an ok time to buy the dip as we probably tread water tomorrow and head back up next week.

Strongest of the losing sectors include airlines, retail, defense, utilities, brokers and large cap value. Weakest include big cap biotech (AMGN), silvers, metals, emerging markets, homies, oil service and drugs.

Market internals have been ugly all day and one of the reasons I decided not to buy the dip during the morning. The NYSE is red 1,800 and the NAZ red 1,600.

The OEX/NDX both with 9/1 red to green while the SPX is about 35 green and 465 red give or take.

IBD 100 about the same with about 9 lower to each issue higher.

Issues that may be buys today include BAM JOE JPM WYNN IBN VLO OIH XOM XTO PVH SSRI SGP SMH and MGM. As always, do your own due diligence and scale into positions as I expect tomorrow will not be a strong day either.

OPENING DIP

Markets open lower on the heels of some as expected crummy retail numbers. The DJIA -66, NAZ -12, SPX -7, RUT -7.5 and MID -5. Small caps continue to act the worst of the major market indexes.

Strongest sectors include non US real estate, retails, tech, oils and exchanges. Worst groups include silvers, metals, homies, brokers, small caps, drugs, defense and small cap growth.

Big cap winners include EP LTD TFT INTC COF NSM NSC MOT COST MNST NVDA MRVL AKAM and BEAS.

Losers- WFMI PDCO LRCX MICC VRTX FLEX BNI ABT ATI AA ABT SLE MER BDK and LEH.

IBD 100 winners- HDNG ROCM MTOX ICE PTNR COGO ACH and ICLR. Losers- PRFT GROW VIP HRT RIO SPTN MT and GES.

Volatility indexes climbing high although hardly blasting off with the VIX/VXO in the low 13 area and at/near their 10 day SMA's.

The 2 day RSI on the MID is down in the low 40's and may be worth a dip if one is under invested. Mid caps seem to be the best of all worlds of late with the private equity put and decent growth. And if one wished to do some dipping on a stock that has been beaten down of late and down in the last 7 sessions and still with good fundy, try CTSH.

THE CLOSE

The chart above (about 140 points straight up) needs few words as yet again the "buy the dip" crowd coins the money and the shorts get clobbered as the Fed market indecision leads to another closing high on the DJIA. The SPX is only about 15 away from its closing high and about 44 off the all time high.

Sector leaders included semis, emerging markets, real estate, the Aussie etf, small caps, internets, banks and small cap growth. The worst groups were silver, gold, biotech, drugs and trannies.

Higher stocks included SLG JPM MA MER GS LEH BSC NYX ICE BOT CAM VLO GE KLAC RIMM INTC MSFT AAPL GOOG PFE AMGN SAY INFY VSL AMZN and EBAY.

Lower were BAM AIB CME NMX FLA BUD MO FTO XTO MRK SGP DNA SYK LVS WYNN and CTSH.

IBD 100 winners included SNHY TNH GES RIMM GROW VCLK WFR LFL RIO AQNT and SSYS while PCLN MTOX GSOL ROCM and MFW were lower.

Market internals climbed back to green on both the NYSE and NAZ with +870 on the big board and +260 on the NAZ.

The OEX closed with about 2 up to each stock down while the NDX was about 3/2 green to red while the SPX was a bit better at 350/150.

I still hold the NQ/ES futures and anticipate waiting it out until the SPX challenges the closing high at 1527. Probably only a few days away and bottom line- there is demand for equities and that trumps earnings, technicals etc etc. It continues to be a buy the dip market.

FED HEADS

Markets trade flat after the big Fed announcement- as the boys show concern about inflation.

Strong sectors include semis, emerging markets, real estate, retail, airlines, financials, midcaps and tech. Laggards include biotechs, oils, gaming, trannies, silvers, drugs and large cap value.

Trading higher are GS MER BSC ICE JPM MA SLG RIMM BIDU AAPL and GOOG.

Lower are BAM NMX CME MS AIB FLA JOE CSCO XOM FTO SGP LVS WYNN CTGSH and YHOO.

Market internals are mixed with net 275 green on the NYSE and net red 265 on the NAZ.

The OEX is about 3/2 green while the NDX /SPX are close to 50/50.

Volatility indexes continue to trade flat and above their 10 day SMA's.

My guess is that the markets trade higher into the close and probably for the rest of the week as the demand for equities will probably trump all the other nonsense. Oh and the oils are probably a buy on this dip.

OPENING BORE

Markets open and they trade mixed with the mid caps trading slightly higher and the NAZ trading a bit lower on the heels of some unfriendly news from CSCO which trades lower by over 5%.

The crude report comes out bearish with bigger builds than anticipated and the oils trade lower on the news.

Strong sectors include emerging markets, semis, retail, real estate, metals, airlines, defense and midcaps. Leading lower are biotechs, internets, tech, brokers and exchanges.

Key stocks that trade higher include JPM BSC SLG TSO GILD INFY EBAY BHP RIMM AAPL and BIDU. Lower ones include BOT CME AIB FTO KLAC CSCO INTC GOOG WYNN and LVS.

Big cap winners include CDWC BEAS RIMM LINTA SNDK TXN NSM ATI IBM VZ and HAL.

IBD winners WAFR TNH GES GROW SSYS SNHY RIO and BWLD.

Big losers- PCLN OYOG GSOL ROCM MFW CSCO ORCL DIS TWX VMED and ERTS.

Market internals are flattish with the NYSE green and the NAZ red. The NDX is acting the worst with about 30 higher and 70 lower.

Volatility indexes also flat.

I anticipate a boring morning and afternoon fireworks on some fed nonsense.

PRE MARKET BAM

Futures markets are trading lower on the heels of the Fed 2:15 announcement. Not sure what has folks excited, oh yeah, the one or two words in the statement they may be slightly altered.

Anyhow, checking the recent performance of the markets, the biggest caps are definitely taking the baton from the small guys even though the small cap growth category is up about 12% on the year. The problem with the small caps - value; small cap value is now flat on the year. The big caps seem like they make new highs almost every day while the small caps still trade at/near the February highs.

And for those wondering about the after market activity in BAM- yes, Cramer finally discovered it yesterday and said:

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) : "This is a stock I discovered on Sockpickr.com. ... This could be the next Warren Buffett stock. Do the homework. Check the site. But I am liking what I see."

THE CLOSE

Markets closed near the flat line with the NDX and the MID's managing to crawl into positive territory.

Strong sectors included trannies, internets, tech, homies, integrated oil and small cap growth. Trailing were silvers, emerging markets, real estate, brokers, biotech, semis and utilities.

Key stocks mainly lower with the brokers and xchanges all red cept for BOT while MA FLA JOE AAPL INTC RIMM CSCO XOM VLO FTO AMZN EBAY DNA and MRK were green.

Market internals were red with the NYSE and NAZ both 600 to the red.

The NDX internals closed with more than 50 stocks in the green while the OEX was 2/1 red to green.

Volatility indexes closed about flat but still above their respective 10 day SMA's.

BAM of course closed up another buck as that stock rarely has a down day.

Johnny from CSCO will be reporting his "beat by a penny" shortly and the tech market will probably take its cue from him tomorrow.

AFTERNOON ACTION

Shockingly, the markets have come back and regained much of the morning losses as trannies and techs lead the rebound. Bringing up the rear are silvers, metals, gaming, emerging markets, brokers, oil service, drugs and utilities.

Key stocks generally lower with RIMM CSCO MSFT AAPL BAM TIF PVH MRK AMZN YHOO all green while GS JPM CME NYX ICE NDAQ LEH BSC GOOG and KLAC are all red.

Biggest winners include FLA NSC BNI HPQ SLE CAT ATI RIMM NTAP ERTS ADSK BEAS JNPR AQNT WCG STLD WFR and X.

Crused symbols include MIDD ROCM AZZ DWSN GROW BTJ EP WMB LINTA EXPE and LRCX.

Volatility indexes are higher but hardly jumping off the screen as the VIX is now at 13.3 while the VXO trades at 13.11. They are over their 10 day SMA's but hardly overbought.

So I come back to the ranch and FLA is trading above the take out price, hmmm. Probably time to take half off and let half ride for a bit and watch to see if some other private equity team approaches.

ANOTHER FISH

Markets open lower as, believe it or not Abbey Joseph Cohen comes out and, yowza, raises her SPX index price targets to 1,600 from 1,550 and her DJIA target to 14,000. She says she has increased confidence that 2008 will be another year of economic profit and expansion.

Strongest sectors (less worse) include gaming, trannies, internets, utilities and large cap growth. Laggards include silver stocks, metals, oil service, brokers, real estate, semis and exchanges.

Market internals are very bearish with a net 1,600 losers on both the NYSE and NAZ.

The internals on the major indexes are also ugly with about 5 losers to every winner on the OEX/SPX/NDX.

The fish reeled in this morning is FLA, a stock mentioned a few times in the past as a favorite of some value investors including the Mutual Series / Third Avenue groups. It is being acquired for about $84 by funds managed by Fortress in an all cash transaction.

PRE MARKETS

SPX futures are trading down about 4.5 points as I type on the heels of lower markets overseas. My guess is most traders/investors would welcome a sell off so they could add to positions at a better cost basis. I still stand by my forecast for a new all time high on the SPX before too long.

In the news, Carl Icahn has apparently lost his duel with Ed Zander to gain a board seat at MOT. Zander has been a wealth destroyer at MOT while Icahn has been a wealth builder his whole career; any question of the "save my job" mode by Zander? By the way, the EPS for MOT in 2004-.78 cents; 2005 $1.14; 2006 $1.13 and a 2007 estimate by Value Line of a whole 50 cents. And for those keeping score Ed started at MOT in March of 2004.

And the New York Times is reporting that the editors at the WSJ withheld the DJ takeover news and some folks may have traded on the "news".

Gapping higher - AKS LIOX AQNT ISPH ECGI MDR WCG ZVUE AFSI AOB SONS RACK STEM WYNN and COMS.

Gapping lower - CUTR MSTR HLYS FTEK IDMI LAZ AAUK CVS PGS DYN SLW CRH DNDN and SHPGY.

I will be out for most of the morning this blog is pretty helpful with updates and stats.

CLOSING BARK

Markets close mixed with the Big caps green and small/mids/NAZ in the pink/red. Value stocks also winners on the day as large cap value was the clear style winner.

Strong sectors included silvers, defense, metals, utilities, real estate, software, drugs and integrated oils while gaming, internets, brokers, exchanges, biotech, tech, homies and semis were all red.

Market internals a bit bullish with 3/2 green on the OEX/SPX and about the reverse on the NDX.

Key stocks mixed with AAPL BAM MSFT RIMM XOM BIIB and PFE all green while BOT NYX CME BSC MS GS C MGM LVS CTSH INFY AMZN YHOO and EBAY all red.

Big winners included DISCA LBTYA MICC MRVL AA ATI CCU EXC TWX GD and UTX.

IBD stocks also mixed with GROW the big loser as it trades down 17%.

And check out the chart on Cramer's favorite growth stock for 2007, NYX, not doing so well- but there is always his favorite spec stock for 2007, LVLT, also not doing so well. Good for blogger amusement if nothing else.

MIDDAY SALE

Markets continue range bound with the big caps and value stocks continuing to out perform.

Silvers, airlines, defense, utilities, metals, biotech and real estate while gaming, brokers, oil service, tech and small caps continue to lag.

Market internals trade net green 350 on the NYSE and net red 175 on the NAZ. The OEX/NDX

both a bit green with the internals net green 55/45 while the SPX is 275/225 green to red.

IBD stocks on the move include SYNL TNH GSOL BTJ and HURC while GROW JST ROCM VCLK and HURN are crushed.

Volatility indexes continue higher and trade at/near their 10 day SMA's.

MGM, a favorite for quite some time is down another 1.3% and about 10 points from the February highs. My take, its time to buy as MGM owns great assets on the strip and is building out its JV in Macau. And you are in good company as Captain Kirk owns 57% and the Marsico funds own about 12%.

THE OPENING

Markets continue higher led again by big caps with the DJIA +23, NAZ+3 and SPX +3. The RUT and MID indexes are unchanged.

Strong sectors include silver stocks, metals, defense, airlines, utilities, value and real estate. Leading lower are oil service, internets, gaming and semis.

Key stocks are mixed with AAPL RIMM XOM LM BAM GILD BIIB higher and IMS MER GS LEH BSC CME ICE BOT GOOG BIDU and CSCO.

Market internals are generally green with NYSE +500 and NAZ +100. The OEX/NDX both in the green with about 55/45 ups to downs.

Notable losers include YHOO INFY MNST CSC GROW ROCM MFW and JNJ.

Volatility indexes higher by about 2% and heading closer to buy signals than sells.

The ITA defense/aero ETF is higher yet again on the AH deal and is now up about 14% on the year. I expect it to continue to move higher and will be adding on pullbacks.

MERGER MONDAY

Believe it or not, markets are set to open higher on the heels of BAE Systems for AH, AA for AL, a rumor of BHP for RIO and who knows what else may be merged/taken over.

Gapping up - AL ZVUE STEM DNDN ERS GSS MRVL TASR BRLC AH NOVL ACH CEGE and gapping down are HANS STTS IIG TS JNJ MDII GROW CCOI.

Checking the math, the SPX/DJIA big cap indexes are all sitting at/near their recent highs with 2 day RSI readings in the mid 90's. Surprisingly, the Volatility indexes refuse to show complacency as they trade middle of the road near their 10 day SMA's.