THE CLOSE

Markets opened higher, moved lower and closed near the best levels of the day as again it got off the floor and shrugged off the underwhelming earnings news from last night. The DJIA closed +45, NAZ -5 and SPX +9.

Strongest sectors- ags, brokers, retail, banks, steel and energy while tech, semis and biotech lagged.

NYSE- 730 net winners;

NAZ- 360 net winners;

NDX- 48 GREEN;

OEX- 60 GREEN;

IBD- 80 GREEN;

VIX- down 2.5% to 19.5;

Crude- $118.5;

Gold -$887;

Light volume with up volume more than 2X down;

RSI (2) levels:

SPX -90

DJIA -88

NAZ -68

NDX -64

RUT 84

MID-91

Markets looking good as we are back at/near the 1400 level with solid support near at 1385. A move higher next week is probably in the cards but if it pulls back- I will be buying. And keep one eye on the brokers which act very very well- in fact they may have seen their bottom for 2008.