3SOF

Nasdaq Composite...

Today's Opinion, Strong Buy

Support & Resistance

2nd Resistance Point   2,513.98
1st Resistance Point 2,502.22
Last Price    2,496.53
1st Support Level 2,474.41
2nd Support Level 2,458.36

A LONGER-TERM LOOK AT THE NASDAQ COMPOSITE...

With the "troika" of the US mid-term elections, FOMC meeting decision on QE-2, and the US Employment Situation Report having been digested by the markets, we thought it instructive to step back and take a longer-term viewpoint of the NASDAQ Composite. Perhaps by looking at the Composite, we can infer whether or not QE-2 will be successful in terms of raising asset prices in the coming year or years. Certainly the Composite has been a relative laggard since the bubble days of 1998-to-2000, that is until the past year. Thus, it piques our long-term interest, and perhaps more importantly...it will clear and discernible impact our trading strategy.



Turning to the monthly chart, we find the multi-year bullish triangle of which trendline resistance is clearly being given - which would argue for new highs years down the road. Certainly recent dour economic prognostications related to money printing et al should be the type of environment in which this should occur. But the fact of the matter is that support levels are holding, while resistance levels are being violated - the hallmark of a bull market. Moreover, the probability for prices extending their gains is rather good the 35-month moving average support level has time and time again over the course of 4-months held up admirably to assault. We are rather impressed by this; and our readers should be too.

Therefore, as long as the 35-month moving average provides support - then one must consider using sharp corrections upon which to accumulate technology shares. Once it does fail, then we'll be inclined to be aggressively short...but not until then. The final fact of the matter is that QE-2 may have some very real long-term unintended consequences - meaning very sharply higher asset prices or "bubbles" once again. And who doesn't like sharply higher asset prices? So...here's three cheers to the "good ole' days" of the 1998-to-2000 NASDAQ rally!

Tech Stocks...
Tech stocks kick off year in rally mode

Tech stocks began 2011 on an upbeat note Monday, closing with broad gains with advances coming from the likes of Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and NetApp Inc.

Apple (AAPL 331.04, -0.25, -0.08%)  rose $7.01 a share, or 2%, to $329.57; H-P (HPQ 43.66, +0.03, +0.07%)  added 64 cents a share to close at $42.74 and NetApp (NTAP 57.60, +0.22, +0.38%) ended the day up by $2.45 a share, or more than 4%, at $57.41. 

Such advances helped push the Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP 2,681, -10.27, -0.38%)  up by almost 39 points to close at 2,691. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX 415.58, +0.53, +0.13%)  rose almost 1% and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH 672.35, -1.49, -0.22%)  closed with a gain of 1.4%.

Sprint Nextel Corp.(S 4.47, +0.02, +0.45%)  shares rose 28 cents, or 6.6%, to close at $4.51. The No. 3 wireless-phone network operator said it wouldn't buy debt for network partner Clearwire Corp.(CLWR 5.27, -0.03, -0.61%) . Clearwire is trying to sell debt as part of an effort to raise capital this year. 

Micron Technology Inc.(MU 8.46, +0.02, +0.24%)  shares rose 26 cents, or 3.2%, to $8.28. Lazard Capital maintained a hold rating on Micron, saying in a research note that the company should benefit from positive pricing and demand trends for NAND memory processors.

Two notable decliners were online travel sites Expedia Inc.(EXPE 24.49, +0.07, +0.29%)  and Orbitz Worldwide Inc.(OWW 5.19, -0.22, -4.07%) , as Soleil Securities cut their ratings to hold from buy.

The downgrades, Soleil Securities analyst Jake Fuller said, are based in part on disputes between the companies and AMR Corp. (AMR 8.10, +0.18, +2.27%) , the parent of American Airlines. Expedia and Orbitz aren't listing American's fares, with the carrier reacting to fees it pays for such listings.

Expedia shares fell 30 cents to close at $24.79, while Orbitz gave up 18 cents a share, or more than 3%, to close at $5.41.

Social-networking giant Facebook got some attention following reports the privately held company has reportedly received a $450 million investment from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(GS 173.15, +0.07, +0.04%)   and $50 million from Russia's Digital Sky Technologies, placing the online social-networking site's valuation at $50 billion. Reports said that Facebook could use the funding for product development, hiring of new staff and acquisitions.

Some IPO experts said the investments show Facebook doesn't have to do much to get outside funding, and that the company isn't likely to go public before late 2011, at the earliest.


Nasdaq Composite Index...

TRADERS ARE ALL IN
Complacency in the market was setting records this past week. The technicals? They look great. But can the market keep moving higher short -term when options traders are betting on it en masse? Well, maybe, but if you enter stocks on the long side at this level, please understand the risk bar has been raised significantly. Don't misunderstand my message. I'm intermediate-term to long-term bullish and have been that way since shortly after the bottom formed in March 2009. There have been short-term periods, however, when it's made sense to take a more conservative approach to trading. ANY time complacency grows, I get nervous. Why? Because market makers are VERY good about making money and they do it at the expense of you and me. As more and more folks trade call options on a relative basis, the odds grow that a near-term top is fast approaching.

Tons of net call option premium evaporated the last three trading days. The NASDAQ lost 3% of its value from Wednesday's open to Friday's close and that shouldn't surprise anyone who follows max pain, which I define as the point at which in-the-money call premium equals, or offsets, in-the-money put premium. It's generally in the market makers' best interests for prices to gravitate towards max pain into option expiration Friday. So between the complacency and max pain, the bulls faced a huge short-term hurdle as January options expired Friday. Unfortunately for the bulls, the market makers won again. In my view, it's another form of TARP for the financials. The good news for the Goldman Sachs of the world is that this TARP money doesn't have to be repaid. Wonderful! (sarcasm intended)

Since 2003, the CBOE has been providing information relating to the equity only put call ratio (the "EOPCR"). The average daily EOPCR since 2003 is .65. The 60 day SMA of the EOPCR is at .54. This is the lowest reading for this 60 day SMA on record. The first such reading occurred on Tuesday. Take a look at a one month chart on the NASDAQ:

Nasdaq Composite...

•Market Snapshot: U.S. stock indexes open near 29-month highs at MarketWatch(Mon, Feb 7)
Stocks finished higher Monday, propelled by a flurry of deals news, strong earnings and signs of economic activity returning to normal in Egypt.

Technicals
Record Price High

Nasdaq Composite...

Wall Street flat, waning volume points to top.

Uranium stocks are catching fire
get in URRE before the breakout move!


Nasdaq Composite Index.......
Technicals
Record Price High

Nasdaq Composite...
A potential bear nugget

If price confirms a bearish divergence, then a correction is born.
Over the past year, the only two other times this occurred was the April and November tops. Both went on to touch trend support(S2) however, one led to an ugly summer correction and the other was mild yet a correction none the less.

The 2850 line is acting as resistance which will likely force a correction of some sort. I don't think the market's running away from anybody here and certainly the chart remains bullish till it isn't. So for now price will point the way.

Technicals
Record Price High

Last Price Quote is:
1.29%above 13-day EMA
4.46%above 50-day EMA
RS Rating: N/A 

Nasdaq Composite...
With over 3,000 components, the NASDAQ Composite is a stock market index comprised of all the common stocks and similar securities listed on the NASDAQ stock market. In terms of indicating the performance of technological companies and growth companies, the NASDAQ Composite is the most followed in the United States, although is it not solely a U.S. index.

The three major U.S. stock indexes hit highs for the year, and the Nasdaq was at its highest since late 2007...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street rallied and the S&P 500 hit its highest level since June 2008 on Tuesday as a flood of positive corporate results added to increasing optimism about the economic growth outlook.

Ford Motor Co (NYSE:F - News), 3M Co (NYSE:MMM - News) and United Parcel Services Inc (NYSE:UPS - News) were among the bellwether names to impress, continuing a string of better-than-expected results. 3M and UPS also raised their full-year profit outlooks, contributing to the bullish sentiment.

Shares of 3M, a Dow component, rose 2.2 percent to $96.22 while UPS was up 1.2 percent at $74.52. Ford advanced 2.5 percent to $15.92.

"The very positive outlooks from today means things look very bright going forward," said Peter Andersen, portfolio manager of the Boston-based Congress Asset Management.

"I was frankly delighted with Ford's results, and the market is taking some of its cue from the strength there," added Andersen, who helps manage $7 billion and owns Ford.

Though 73 percent of New York Stock Exchange issues were in positive territory, there were some disappointments. Coca-Cola Co (NYSE:KO - News) fell 1.7 percent to $66.61 and was the Dow's biggest loser after its results were hurt by lost Japanese revenue. U.S. Steel Corp (NYSE:X - News) and Netflix Inc (NasdaqGS:NFLX - News) also fell after results.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI - News) was up 108.83 points, or 0.87 percent, at 12,588.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) was up 11.55 points, or 0.87 percent, at 1,346/80. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC - News) was up 20.85 points, or 0.74 percent, at 2,846.73.

The three major U.S. stock indexes hit highs for the year, and the Nasdaq was at its highest since late 2007, erasing losses after a drop in February. But some caution remained a day before a press conference by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The conference follows the Fed's last policy statement before it is expected to stop its quantitative easing program at the end of June. Investors have concerns that the end of that program could remove support for buying stocks.

Trading volume was weaker than average, with 3.94 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq as of 1 p.m. EST.

"There's some apprehension about what to expect," Andersen said. "People are anxious to reinvest in equity markets, but they're tentative about the Fed, which is why you've been seeing such low volume lately."

U.S. consumer confidence rose in April as inflation expectations eased somewhat and consumers felt better about the short-term outlook, according to a private-sector report. The data helped ease concerns that the recent rise in oil prices have started to hit shoppers.

NEW YORK—Stocks suffered their biggest declines since the middle of last year, as a slew of downbeat reports prompted fears the economic recovery is running out of steam.
JUNE 1, 2011, 5:39 P.M. ET

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite fell 66.11 points, or 2.3%, to 2769.19.

"There isn't a lot of confidence to begin with, so it doesn't take much to push people away from the table," said Ted Weisberg, a trader with Seaport Securities.

Investors kicked off June on a negative note after several economic data points weighed on sentiment. Concerns about unemployment arose after a reading on private-sector job growth came in well below economists' expectations, fueling anxiety on Wall Street about the government's monthly jobs report Friday. Pessimism continued to mount after the Institute for Supply Management said the manufacturing sector slowed sharply in May. U.S. auto sales also dropped in May from a month earlier, the auto industry's first significant setback in more than 18 months. The selling accelerated in the late afternoon after Moody's Investors Service again cut the rating of Greek government debt.

The last time the blue-chip index dropped more than 200 points on a closing basis was March 16, which was at the height of the nuclear crisis in Japan. Wednesday's declines erased the 1.7% gain the Dow achieved during the previous four sessions of gains, including the 128-point rise on Tuesday.

"There's a very large population of portfolio managers who are nervous," said Fred Fraenkel, chairman of investment policy at Beacon Trust Company. "They're invested, but they're nervous and scared, the same way they were scared this time last year, about a 'double dip' "—the economy stalling again.

Financials were the S&P 500's biggest-declining sector Wednesday, dropping 3.5%. The weak private-sector jobs report points to a major obstacle to recovery for banks, given that unemployment is tied to delinquencies on mortgages and credit cards, as well as weak consumer lending.

The ADP data prompted many financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, to slash estimates for job growth ahead of the nonfarm payrolls report due Friday.

"There's a lot of skepticism," said Steve Quirk, senior vice president of the active-trader group at TD Ameritrade. "But unless we see something really out of the norm, I wouldn't anticipate seeing a market reaction Friday like we're seeing [Wednesday]."

Demand for U.S. Treasurys soared following the weak economic data, pushing the yield on the 10-year note below the psychologically key level of 3%.

Crude-oil futures tumbled but remained above $100 a barrel, while gold futures edged up. The dollar rose against the euro but ticked lower against the yen.

Wednesday's data add to a string of reports in recent weeks that indicate the U.S. economy struggled in May. Regional factory reports were weak, initial claims for unemployment benefits remained high, and the Conference Board's consumer-confidence index fell sharply last month.

In corporate news, Dollar General's fiscal first-quarter profit fell short of analysts' expectations, prompting shares to drop 3.26, or 9.3%, to 31.81.

Lions Gate Entertainment swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter profit as the movie and television studio spent much less on distribution and marketing. Shares rose 26 cents, or 4.4%, to 6.19.

Sealed Air said it would buy cleaning-products maker Diversey Holdings for $2.9 billion in cash and stock, as the packaging-goods company looks to diversify by selling an expanded line of products to its current customers. Sealed Air shares fell 1.71, or 6.7%, to 23.84.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers slumped 7.59, or 13%, to 49.51, as the seller of high-end men's business and casual clothes reported fiscal first-quarter profit and revenue that fell short of Wall Street's expectations.

Marathon Oil agreed to pay $3.5 billion for acreage in the popular Eagle Ford shale formation in south Texas from a joint venture of Hilcorp Energy and private-equity firm KKR. Shares of Marathon Oil fell 1.52, or 2.8%, to 52.65.

Stocks See Worst Day in 8 Weeks Amid Debt Deal Woes...
Reuters 2:45 pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street suffered its worst day in eight weeks on Wednesday, hit by weak earnings, lackluster economic data and no movement in Washington as the deadline for a default looms.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI) dropped 197.76 points, or 1.58 percent, to 12,303.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX) lost 26.95 points, or 2.02 percent, to 1,304.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC) fell 75.17 points, or 2.65 percent, to 2,764.79.