Tänahommikune oodatust varasem võimu üleandmine Iraagis on viinud pullid rünnakule: futuuride põhjal otsustades avaneb Dow Jones ca +0,56%, S&P500 +0,64% ja Nasdaq +0,91% reedestest sulgemistasemetest kõrgemal.
Väga olulisi tulemusi algaval nädalal veel laekumas ei ole, seoses Palmi poolse üllatusega eelmisest nädalast, mis aktsiahinna juba ca 70% üles viinud on ehk huvitavaim homme peale turu sulgemist laekuv Research In Motion (RIMM) raport. Täna on aktsia eelturul +2,21% tõusnud kuna analüütikute kommentaaride kohaselt suudab firma samuti konsensuse ootusi ületada eelkõige tänu tugevale Blackberry müügile.
Rev Shark:
"Those who are blessed with the most talent don't necessarily outperform everyone else. It's the people with follow-through who excel."
-- Mary Kay Ash
Following an impressive breakout move Wednesday the indices have been drifting around and consolidating gains. There is nothing bad about that. In fact, it is quite healthy to take time to digest gains and build a base for another move up. However, the bulls can't dawdle for too long; they have to show that they have the firepower to follow-through. The bulls have the edge technically but it can easily be lost if they don't press their advantage.
All three of the major indices have broken the downtrend lines that has been in place since the beginning of the year, but have not done so with such vigor that the trend has turned up. It wouldn't take much to kill this nascent rally on a technical basis.
There are some positives out there. Breadth has been good and we have been seeing increased volume on strength. However, the chip stocks look weak technically and that is worrisome. The group managed to bounce off recent lows but has not regained its leadership role. This morning Goldman Sachs says that it expects higher orders for the third quarter in the group but recommends that investors take profits on rallies.
Small-caps have been the best group recently but the rebalancing of the Russell indices has been the cause of some unusual moves in the thinner stocks. There will likely be some continued fallout as hedges are unwound. This group is an important indicator of speculative health in the overall market and if it can hold recent gains that bodes well for the broader market.
I'm not sure this is good news or bad but Ralph Acompora technical analysis at Prudential is looking for the indices to break out. Ralph has taken some grief over the years for some untimely calls but he has had some success as well. He supports a breakout thesis based on a variety of indicators such as the Dow Transports, the advance/decline line, new 52-week highs and the Lowry buying and selling pressure gauges. His key level to watch is 1508 on the Nasdaq 100, which looks like it will be breached if the opening gap up holds.
The Iraq handover had been anticipated but the fact that it went off early without a hitch is creating a buoyant mood this morning. The market will soon be shifting its attention to the FOMC interest rate decision and earnings season. We have a lot of potential market catalysts in the works and market participants will have plenty of good reasons to get some momentum, good or bad, going.
I'm always a little suspicious of Monday morning euphoria but the Iraq news is obviously a positive and the bulls can run with it if they are so inclined. Overseas markets are holding up, oil is trading down (which is also helping the markets), and gold is trading up, as is the dollar.
If nothing else we should have more interesting trading action this week, which is a positive regardless of which way the indices decide to go.
The surprise early transfer of power in Iraq is boosting markets across the globe. The move, which was designed to undermine terrorists who were planning attacks on the new government, also caught market participants by surprise. No one envisioned that the transfer to a new government would be easy but this surprise move makes it clear that the U.S. is serious about its stated goals, and that's a positive for the markets.
I'll have more in a little bit.