Daily Market Review 03/09/10

The equity, currency and oil markets continued to consolidate today on overall low volume.  The S&P 500 Index move up 2 points to 1140, while the Euro slipped 30 pips against the dollar.  The Nasdaq market was the best performer moving up 9 points or .4%.  

Cisco Systems Inc. unveiled a heavy-duty router for managing Internet traffic, as it seeks to regain market share it has lost in the arms race to manage telecommunications networks. Cisco said Tuesday its new CRS-3 router has 12 times the capacity of rival equipment. For example, executives said the device can handle simultaneous video calls for every person in China. AT&T Inc., a key Cisco customer, said Tuesday it completed a trial with the router, which allowed its long-distance Internet backbone to carry data traffic at 100 gigabits per second, or roughly 10,000 times faster than the average household cable or DSL connection.  Cisco had another powerful rally moving up almost 4% in the past week.

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Daily Market Review 03/08/10

The markets consolidated after the large run up on Friday, on low volume and very little volatility.  The range for the day on the S&P 500 Index was 4 points and the market settled down .20 points to 1138.50.  Today is what most analyst consider the 1 year anniversary of the bull run in equities as the market seem to bottom 1 year ago today.  Implied volatility which is a measure of how much traders believe the markets will move over the course of a year also hit a 52 week low today.

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Weekly Market Review 03/05/10

The equity markets had a powerhouse finish to the week, capping off a robust trading week for the S&P 500 Index.  The benchmark index finished the week up 34 points or 3%.  The UK FTSE Index hit a new 52 week high and is sitting on resistance at the 200 week moving average.  Oil and Gasoline, had solid gains and could be the impetus for a break of the top of the recent trading range.  The Euro and the Pound where unchanged for the week as investors are still fearful of European debt issues.

The week started off with strong data out of the United Kingdom.  The PMI  survey released Monday showed the purchasing managers index for the U.K.’s manufacturing sector was unchanged at a 15-year high of 56.6 in February.  A second straight reading at this lofty level help list the FTSE and the US indices. 

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Trading Opportunities 03/04/10

  • Monday March 8th, 2010 – Sentix Investor Confidence (930 GMT)

The Sentix Investor Confidence release by the Sentix GmbH shows a study of investor confidence towards the Euro-zone economy. An increasing number of investments is seen as positive prospect of the Euro-Zone economy (or bullish sentiment for the EUR), while a decreasing number is seen as negative (or bearish).  Last month’s confidence number was -8.8, and the market expects a slightly negative number again for March.  With the Greek debt situation still on the minds of investors, a weaker than expected number will hurt the currency, as well as, the bond and equity markets.

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Daily Market Review 03/05/10

The week was capped off with a solid gain in the equity markets with the US charging ahead after a better than expected employment number.  The S&P 500 surged 15 points closing the week up 33 points or 3%.  The Nasdaq composite rallied 32 points and created a new 52 week high.  The FTSE also made a 52 week high on Friday, and the Russell 200 Index also joined the party.

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Daily Market Review 03/04/10

The US equity markets continue to move higher as the S&P 500 recorded another solid gain finishing the day up 4 points to 1123.  Market participants were not willing to buck the trend prior to the US employment report that will be released tomorrow at 1330 GMT.  Expectations are for a decrease of 40 thousand jobs, but given the poor weather during February on the East Coast of the US, the market would not be surprised to see a larger number.

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Daily Market Review 03/03/10

The equity markets continued to grind higher while oil and gasoline rallied and the Euro and Pound rebounded from very depressed levels.  The S&P 500 index finished up .5 points to 1119.  The trading day provided a plethora of economic  releases from around the globe.  The Russell 2000 Index of small caps stocks made a 52 week high.

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Daily Market Review 03/02/10

The equity markets continued to grind higher, moving into the black for 2010, while oil rebounded and the Euro edged higher against the dollar.  For the session, the S&P 500 Index climb 2.6 points to 1118.

The RBA pursued its rate normalization process and hiked interest rates by another 25bp overnight (to 4%, bringing the cumulative tightening of monetary policy to 100basis points). The RBA is probably not done yet on the rate hike front, but the central bank will remain cautious in its policy actions and there was nothing in the statement suggesting that another rate rise is likely in April, with Governor Stevens just reiterating that rates should move closer to ‘average’.

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Daily Market Review 03/01/10

Despite continued worries about European debt issues,  the US equity market performed well.  The S&P 500 Index reached a critical technical level of 1115.  This was not the case for other risky assets, as Crude Oil finished the trading session down $1 per barrel and both the Euro and the Pound were down on the day.  The pound has come under heavy pressure today falling below $1.48 and the move could prompt talk of a UK crisis. 

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Weekly Market Review 02/26/10

The markets continued to gyrate this week as investors remained fearful of issues related to European debt specifically the debt related to Greece and Spain.  The Euro after facing heaving selling pressure mid week was able to bounce and finish up the week with a slight gain.  The S&P 500 Index as well faced a large push to the downside, only to finish the week with a small loss. 

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