WEEKEND LOOK

Markets had a pretty pretty good week with the SPX climbing 4%+and the NAZ almost 5%. Next week should provide more excitement as we have earnings galore.

Technically, the SPX is now stretched at about 3.7% above its 50 SMA- the last time it was this far away from the 50 on the bullish side- October, 07. The biggest recent stretch to the downside - January 22 when it was almost 10% below.

The good folks at BESPOKE with some stretching stats of their own. Adam with some thoughts on what to do now that we are stretched and Cramer on why we will probably stretch further in the ag/nat gas group.

Markets are giving pretty typical over bought signals with the volatility indexes universally at/near the 10% below the SMA 10 line. RSI (2) levels also in over bought territory as follows:

SPX 96

DJIA 97

NAZ 92

NDX 93

RUT 85

MID 90

XLE 97

OIH 99

GLD 17

UNG 91

USO 99

MOO 80

DBA 17

DBC 66

JJG 18

BKX 90

XBD 94

IAI 95

GS 96

BTK 64

IBB 71

DRG 62

RLX 97

XRT 94

MSH 92

XLK 95

HHH 86

AAPL 97

GOOG 96

THE CLOSE

Markets sold off a bit in the afternoon but closed about 40 points off the best DJIA levels of the day. The SPX - reached a high near 1396 and closed at about 1390 - I expected a better close but its Friday so not shocking as some folks probably wanted to flatten out their positions.

Strongest sectors- oil service, internets, ags, tech and brokers while metals and real estate lagged.

NYSE- 1725 net winners;

NAZ- 1280 net winners;

NDX -90 WINNERS;

OEX- 83 WINNERS;

Markets have closed above the old resistance levels of 1380 on the SPX and next week should be interesting.

GS closed at 180 and that has also been a tough area for the bulls- My guess is higher prices next week unless of course earnings numbers spit the bit.

MIDDAY CHECK

Markets are trading at/near their highs for the day as the DJIA did trade about 100 points lower earlier in the morning. Currently, DJIA +270, NAZ +70 and SPX +30.

Strongest sectors- internets, brokers, oil service, tech, banks and retail- lagging are metals, utils and drugs.

NYSE- 1930 net winners;
NAZ- 1500 net winners;
NDX- 90 GREEN;
OEX- 85 GREEN;

VIX- down 4.5% and trading about 12% under the SMA 10 and at the lowest point of the year;

Up volume 5X down;

Remember, when markets are very strong they tend to close at/near the highs. That is today so that is what I expect and have been buying dips in QLD/SSO.

Alson note GS at/near recent resistance at/near 182- this has been a FIB retracement area where lots of selling has happened in the past.

Note also RSI (2) levels at/near very over bought levels of 95 on the major indexes.

More on the VIX- and the time is probably at /near these levels.

John McCain- pretty charitable and hasn't done nearly as well as the two other candidates.

And Barry aggregating.

MORNING TRADE

Markets are way up but have drifted down since the opening print. The DJIA +170, NAZ +46 and SPX +19.

Strongest sectors- internets, brokers, ags, financials, retail and tech while metals, steel, oils and utils lag.

Key stocks-35/40 green led by GOOG BIDU AMZN C CAT MTW BAC V POT- losers- ISRG KO KLAC PG XOM;

NYSE- 1675 net winners;

NAZ - 1300 net winners;

NDX- 90 GREEN;

OEX- 90 GREEN;

IBD 100- 80 GREEN;

VIX- down 4% and trading at near 88% of the SMA 10;

Up volume 5X Down;

Looks to be one of those buy the pullbacks days for day traders and for the longer term - dipping into metals and ags may be a nice trade. DBA/DBC/GLD/DBS/DGP all dipping and I will be buying.

The 1385 resistance on the SPX is here and now and the action from here should be interesting as every technician will say - we need to break through this level.

PRE OPEN

Market are set to open much higher on the heels of good news from GOOG C CAT and a few others. As I type, the DJIA is set to open about 150 higher, SPX +20 and NDX+38.

The quant, Rob Hanna, testing the theory of buying or shorting when breadth is overly good or bad- my plan is similar except I wouldn't buy at X time and hold through the day- I would look for pullbacks or pullups based on some oscillator and buy or sell into the overall trend.

Morning trade- Gold down $24 at $919;

Crude at $113.13 down $1.71;

VIX starting the day at/near 8% below the 10 SMA and definitely in oversold territory which will probably go even lower today while RSI (2) levels at/near 95 on the YM/ES/NQ /ER2 futures, so sell signals on the horizon.

How long before the yanks learn that there is no point in playing the game when this guy pitches - just rest the players and put it in the books as a loss. He is just awful.

How bout this blogfolio?

And what happened to the titanic?

THE CLOSE

Markets closed the day mixed with the DJIA +2, NAZ -8 and the SPX +1. The big news is GOOG which is trading up $40+ as I type and lifting the NDX futures to nearly flat on the day.

Strong sectors- brokers, financials, banks, insurance, real estate and oils while ags, gaming, trannies, airlines and drugs lagged.

NYSE- flat internals;
NAZ- 630 net losers;
NDX -35 GREEEN;
OEX-60 GREEN;
IBD -25 GREEN;

VIX- flat on the day;
Up and Down volume nearly equal with a total of 1.2B;

Another light volume day that provided opportunities for the nimble trader on both sides of the trade. SPX - still facing resistance at 1385 with support at/near 1340 so smack in the middle for now.

NOON LULL

Markets traded lower this morning but seem to be turning as I type. The DJIA -14, NAZ -13 and SPX -3.

Strong sectors- insurance, financials, banks, utils and value while gaming, ags, trannies, airlines and drugs lag.

NYSE- 450 net losers;

NAZ- 740 net losers;

NDX - 30 WINNERS;

OEX- 44 WINNERS;

IBD- 15 WINNERS;

VIX- higher by 4%;

Down volume a bit more than Up;

GOLD/CRUDE/NAT GAS- all near the unchanged line;

EURO -1.59+;

Folks who didn't get in yesterday may be wanting to buy this dip today as the financials continue to trade well despite the major indexes in the red.

Indexes in the red - year to date:

SPX-7%

DJIA -5%

RUT -8%

MID-4%

NAZ -12%

So for everyone who was excited about the big caps- Midcaps were the place to be- less worse- OIH and XLE- both green on the year.

BESPOKE on the new big caps;

ADAM with Random Wild Bullishness;

Chris Perruna with the new BRK.A;

THE OPEN

Markets are trading flat about 1 hour in with the leaders being - brokers, utils, insurance, oils, telecom and steel while gaming, airlines, ags, internets and trannies are all red.

Key stocks- 20/40 green led by BIDU MER ISRG MS AAPL MTW GS XOM NYX- losers- NVDA WYNN KLAC LVS PG DECK BG CELG and MGM;

NYSE- 380 net red;

NAZ- 520 net red;

NDX- 37 GREEN;

OEX- 60 GREEN;

IBD- 32 GREEN;

VIX- higher by 3%;

Up and Down volume about equal;

GOLD/CRUDE near the flat line at 947 and 115;

EURO 1.59+;

Markets probably digest yesterday's gains and maybe even move a bit higher as the financials have some pretty green bars in the early going. For now, we are solidly above the SMA 50 and I will look to buy the dips (daytrading) as the next stop on SPX seems to 1385 area.

Trader Mike with some nice charts last night and The Gartman letter with an interesting take on mortgage resets this morning. Looks pretty good there going forward, not Gartman's graph but similar.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

And just like that the markets closed at/near their highs and gave day traders plenty of opportunities to enter such as the 2:00 sell off on the beige book- markets closed about 100 DJIA points higher than the big dip point.

Strong sectors- ags, metals, steel, real estate, homies and semis while airlines, drugs and retail lagged.

NYSE - 2100 net winners;

NAZ- 1360 net winners;

NDX-97 GREEN;

OEX-90 GREEN;

VIX- lower by 10% and the lowest number of the year;

RSI (2) levels heading near 90 and any move near 1385 on the SPX probably brings back the sellers.

NOON BOOM

Markets continue to trade higher and buying pullbacks seems to be today's trading strategy. Remember, markets that are strong all day tend to close at/near their highs.

Strongest sectors- metals, semis, ags, homies, steel, trannies and banks while drugs, utils, biotech and telecom lag.

NYSE- 1900 net winners;

NAZ- 1300 net winners;

NDX- 97 GREEN;

OEX -85 GREEN;

IBD -93 GREEN;

IBD 20- 17 GREEN;

VIX- down 7.3% and trading near the 2008 lows- and about 7% below the SMA 10;

Up volume still 6X Down but seems light again at 568M through midday;

FTSE- +2.2%, DAX +1.7% and CAC +1.6%;

Dr. Brett with his take on "the bottom";

And how did you compare?

SPX trading at 1356 with recent over head resistance at 1360 and then the 1385/1390 levels- not sure the end is today especially if we can get more decent earnings reports.

OPENING CHECK

Markets are way up on the heels of the good news from INTC/JPM and a few others. The DJIA +145, NAZ +38 and the SPX +16. And for what its worth, the first dip was just bought pretty pretty significantly.

Strongest sectors- metals, semis, ags, steels, banks, homies and transports while airlines, drugs, gaming, utils and retail lags.

Key stocks- 35 /40 in the green led by BG POT INTC BIDU MONKLAC MS SMH- laggards- LVS UA MGM PG AMGN KO GOOG;

NYSE- 1840 net winners;

NAZ- 1255 net winners;

NDX -90 GREEN;

OEX-80 GREEN;

IBD-93 GREEN;

VIX- down 6% and trading about 6% below the SMA 10;

Up volume about 6x down volume;

Looks like a buy the dip day as just about every equity is moving on up- high tick readings and the only question will be how big the volume is at 4:00.

THE LINKS

INTC still up about 9% and thought it would be a nice time to put out some links:

The 1,520 Slope of Hope;

The Wonder of W;

BESPOKE sees something interesting;

Good Luck Herbela;

Opportunity Knocking;

Bullish Doll;

The GOOG marches on;

Home on the Range;

THE POST CLOSE

Markets closed near the morning highs and are screaming higher in the after market as INTC finally comes through for the bulls. The NQ futures +23 and ES +7 as I type.

SPX 1325 was again the key turn around area- just like yesterday- and with the good INTC news and the over sold market conditions, a decent rally could build from this point- SPX 1360 as a start and maybe longer term back to the 1390 resistance area.

MIDDAY LULL

Markets "seem" to be bouncing off SPX 1325 yet again and are now flat after opening higher and heading straight down.

Strong sectors- brokers, ags, metals, utils, insurance and steel while airlines, gaming, biotech, defense and semis lag.

NYSE- 260 net losers;

NAZ- 80 net losers;

NDX- 38 GREEN;

OEX- 50 GREEN;

IBD- 53 GREEN;

IBD 20 BIG CAPS- 8 GREEN- FSLR NXY EOG ECA CNQ HAL POT HES- 12 RED- RIG MA IBM APA WFT NKE MOS BLK RIMM CELG DE CSX;

VIX- down 1%;

Up and down volume about equal;

RSI (2) levels-

SPX 7

DJIA 8

NAZ 13

NDX 12

RUT 24

MID 17

In the latest issue of The Outlook, Standard & Poors has raised their "recession-risk" forecast to 80% from a prior 70%. Why did they change?- "The third consecutive drop in payrolls implies that the economy has clearly moved into recession territory. The data still suggests that the recession will be mild, and we expect first quarter GDP to be only slightly negative."

The issue also discussed the "lost decade" (the last 10 years) where inflation adjusted returns on stocks have been nil- They bring to light a number of mutual funds that have had positive returns every year since 1997- DDIAX EAAFX GABCX PRPFX and PRWCX- and 5 funds with a double digit 10 year annualized gain- CVGRX CGMFX EVTMX FMILX and HFCGX.

The Open

Markets are trading higher but well off their best and opening levels which were up on the heels of good earnings news from JNJ.

Strong sectors- metals, steels, utils, gold, reits, ags and trannies while gaming, airlines, biotech, semis and homies lag.

Key stocks- mixed with BIDU MSFT XOM GOOG MCD CME ISRG RIMM higher and MTW KLAC DECK LVS AMZN MGM and UA lower.

NYSE- 340 net green;

NAZ- FLAT;

NDX- 40 GREEN;

OEX-55 GREEN;

IBD- 60 GREEN;

VIX- down about 1%;

GOLD- $931;

CRUDE- $113.35;

EURO- 1.58;

10 YEAR NOTE- 3.547%;

Up volume and Down volume about equal;

Markets have gone straight down from the higher open and the financials have turned red after a strong open. Support on the SPX probably near yesterday's lows at/near 1325.

My plan- buying oils/commodities on pullbacks (DBA DBC GLD DGP OIH) and the major indexes near the 1325 support if and when.

THE WRAP

A brutally boring day in the markets as they flipped between green and red most of the day. The day ended down as usual but it was bullish according to CNBC - as it could have been worse. Seems like as long as the markets remain above ZERO, the folks at CNBC will continue to look at it as bullish.

Strong sectors included airlines, oils, ags, metals and trannies while banks, brokers, homies and semis lagged.

NYSE- 600 net losers;

NAZ- 750 net losers;

NDX/OEX- 40 WINNERS on each;

VIX- up 2% at 23.89;

Down volume about 150% of Up volume and light under 1.2B shares;

GOLD- $926;

CRUDE- about $112;

EURO- 1.58 and about flat on the day;

OIH up another $5 and trading at $193+ doesn't seem to pullback anymore;

Overall- maybe we get turnaround Tuesday tomorrow- support defenitely at 1315/1325.

THE W

Markets continue to hover near the unchanged line with a little pick up in the market internals. Financials also seem to have improved slightly as they "appear" to be coming off the floor on the day.

Strongest sectors- airlines, oils, reits, ags, telecom and internets while banks, brokers, homies and semis lag.

NYSE- 75 net winners;

NAZ- 75 net losers;

NDX- 58 WINNERS;

OEX-46 WINNERS;

IBD 100- 70 WINNERS;

VIX- heading to the flat line;

10 year Bond- moving up and now at 3.49%;

Up volume about even with Down volume;

Looks like 1325 was about the lows for the day and wouldn't be surprising if that was the low for the day as the markets are definitely over sold on the heels of the big tumble down on Friday.

Some interesting stats from our friends at US News- George W. Bush presidency deemed a failure by 98% of the "historians." And 61% view it as the worst in American history. Who would have thought with the economy, Iraq, BSC, housing, credit etc....

THE FINANCIALS

Markets have opened flattish with the DJIA up and the SPX/NAZ down- RUT/MID's also in the red.

Strongest sectors include airlines, oils, ags, metals and internets while banks, brokers, homies and steel lags.

NYSE- 200 net losers;

NAZ- 330 net losers;

NDX-40 GREEN;

OEX-45 GREEN;

VIX- higher by 2.5% and a hair above the SMA 10;

Down volume a bit above up volume;

Looks like it could be another difficult day for equities as banks, brokers and big cap tech are all solidly in the red.

RSI (2) levels over sold with most trading near 10;

Not going to add to any longs until I see better action on the BKX/XBD- so far -straight down.