DELL Lifts on Buyout Rumor as AAPL sinks Volume ends Mixed

A very quiet day as volume on the NYSE runs very light below Friday’s level. AAPL, RIMM and DELL shares supported the higher volume on the NASDAQ, but were unable to push the NASDAQ into the green. AAPL was able to close above $500, but it continues to come under selling pressure. The DELL news helped the NASDAQ and the rest of the market when it jumped above $12 a share. All in all today was a quiet day on the NYSE. The NASDAQ did see higher volume notching a day of distribution, but with DELL’s move helped remove the sting a distribution day would give. We can argue about the headwinds existing for the market, but for now the uptrend remains in play. Tomorrow we will get quite a bit of economic news to hit the market at 8:30. We have the following: Empire Manufacturing, Retail Sales, and PPI. It is anyone’s guess to how these figures will move the market, but they will likely move it. At least we can blame the Fiscal Cliff or any move the market will make. There will be a lot made of the retail figures due to the holiday season and how Black Friday may or may not have pulled sales into November rather than December. Boiling it down it is all noise and the market action is all we care about. Leading stocks acted well today for the most part. We continue to see decent action amongst the leaders. One leader LULU was hit in after-hours trading after lower revenue guidance. In after-hours trading the stock is off more than 7%. XXIA continues to act well push higher by almost 9%. The right side of this pattern didn’t have much volume, but we continue to see positive price action in the stock. We have a few other stocks we were looking at that are close to breaking out or have. You’ll have to check out our forums tonight to get the names. Action here certainly supports higher prices, but we keep on waiting to see this market push higher. Have a plan and execute the plan. Make this a great week!

NYSE Posts Second Day of Distribution as Reid Signals Congress Still Can’t Get its Act Together

For the second day in a row the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and the NYSE Composite posted another day of distribution. It is an ominous sign for a newly developed rally to post back to back days of distribution after a follow-through day. Positive economic news from Durable goods to housing did very little to help this market today. Sellers jumped aboard just before the 10am hour, but were held back by another intraday rally like Monday’s session. It appeared as if the NASDAQ and others were ready to bolt to higher ground before Harry Reid and Mitch McConnel spoke about the Fiscal Cliff talks. The market couldn’t rebound and ended near the lows of the session as volume jumped. This rally has a negative tint to it and the next move on volume will spell out the direction we’ll head in the short-term. Friday’s supposed follow-through day kicked off a new rally and the one thing you do not want to see is distribution within the first few days after the follow-through day. Unfortunately for this new rally is we have had back-to-back days of distribution. Monday’s intraday action was bullish, but still put the NYSE composite, S&P 500, and Dow into distribution camp. Today’s action was clear distribution and is not questionable. Distribution following a new confirmed market rally spells trouble for the rally attempt. I’d expect to see this rally fail shortly and we’ll be on the hunt for a new uptrend. If we move higher on strong move we’ll change our tune, but for now distribution is spelling trouble for this rally attempt. Financials rolled over today with the XLF rejected at its 50 day moving average. Retail (XRT) still is having trouble with its 50 day moving average despite the media’s attention on how good Black Friday sales were. Oil and Gas was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 followed by financials. A sign the market is on shaky ground is from the only sector higher on the session being the Utilities. If we don’t see the market improve here look for utilities to show strength while the rest of the market heads lower. If you jumped into the market yesterday or today remember to have an exit strategy. It will mean the difference when it comes down to your returns! Buying is the easy part.

The Market Shakes Off Comments from Bernanke and Close Flat

Continued positive data from the housing market helped boost the market in the early going. However, the focus would quickly turn to Ben Bernanke’s speech at 12:15. Prior to his speech this headline appeared: BN 12:15 *BERNANKE SAYS FISCAL CLIFF WOULD POSE `SUBSTANTIAL THREAT. And during his speech he stated the Federal Reserve would be unable to assist if Congress did not avert the fiscal cliff. The market did not like the sound of this and sold off as volume picked up the pace. It wasn’t before long before buyers stepped up and supported the market pushing the major averages back to flat line at the close. Volume slid on the day, but with the Thanksgiving Holiday upon us light trading is to be expected. It is hard to ignore the support we saw today and we’ll be looking for a confirmation day to switch to buy mode. The market will get initial claims tomorrow, but attention will be drawn to the European summit and black Friday sales figures by retailers. This year more roughly 45% of Americans say they would like to forgo Christmas all together this year. One would conclude with an improving economy should produce consumers willing to purchase more. Perhaps we are seeing the effects of declining real wages due to inflation caused by a Federal Reserve printing at warp speed. Will opening earlier help sales? Time will tell, but looking from the outside it does appear sales have the potential of coming in on the low side of things. Then again, the market may ignore this and move higher. Price rules above all else. A couple of big technology stocks got hit hard today. HPQ and INTC both sunk to new lows as both stocks appear to be heading into the single digits. HPQ simply cannot turn itself around in a consumer dominated commodity business. INTC announced its CEO is departing in May and the news did not sit well with the market. We know CAPEX is falling and these stocks are certainly feeling the effects of decrease spending. We await a confirmation day for this rally attempt. It may be difficult to see one with Thanksgiving on Thursday, but we have seen stranger things.