Posted in stock market by Administrator on the November 23rd, 2007
Yes, I will be giving off 1 free pick to those who register for it on the Master’s PPP Stock Option Pick service page. I hope this free pick will help visitors see the authenticity of our service and convert more sales.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the November 16th, 2007
Ever since the new front page is up, the operation abort problem prevalent in IE6 and 7 have been showing up, disrupting surfing and affecting sales. The FAQs in the microsoft tech pages suggests that it has something to do with javascript… I removed and tested every script but it doesn’t seem to be the issue at all. At the end of the tests, it seems like the problem rests in overlapped and tags! yes, overlapped tags lead to that error too! take heed!
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the November 9th, 2007
I have been resisting this idea for YEARS….
For years, my team and my students have been telling me that black as our main color just don’t work. I have always loved black and have resisted a switch to white for 4 years… but today, I yielded and begun a complete revamp of our website to white… hope visitors will like our change.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the November 4th, 2007
Many visitors enter our page and cannot figure out what we do here or what we can do to help them within a matter of seconds. Many of these visitors either exit the page or live chat us asking the same questions. To eliminate this problem, I started a START NOW button at the prominent top left hand corner of the front page to guide visitors to the correct solution for them. I hope this will direct more visitors to the correct parts of the site that benefits them.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the October 18th, 2007
Today, I accepted a new apprentice from New York, Jeff, who will also be our editor. I hope this exchange of expertise would result in a long term partnership that will extend beyond the current scope of work into even greater ventures.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the October 15th, 2007
Today, in another step to prevent the proliferation of our IP, I have encrypted our download files with de-encryption instructions sent seperately. This is not something that can turn away intentional hackers but it is certainly something that can make it less easy and perhaps dishearten possible proliferation thoughts.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the September 21st, 2007
Its been 3 months since the last major revamp. The last revamp successfully projected an extremely professional image and this time round, I am further improving it by revamping our logo with a strapline and placing a livechat button right at the top right corner like most of the big companies are doing now. Hope these revamps are able to improve the trust factor in our visitors eyes.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the June 5th, 2007
Too many visitors have stumbled upon our site and left wondering exactly what is it that we do or offer. Most left without exploring further. Today, I have revamped the front page again with a message from the founder section explaining what the site is about and what we offer. Also, I have removed all the messy, unwanted links and sections from the front page to keep its purpose as distinct as possible. There are a lot more to be done but I think this brings me a step closer to the ideal front page.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the May 29th, 2007
I realised that the rationale why the Star Trading System is so powerful is not explained on our site. That is why I cooked up a new page explaining the rationale behind the Star trading system here.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the May 14th, 2007
I made and uploaded a new animated gif as an intro in the Star Trading System page. This not only makes the page look a LOT more professional, it also helps to explain what we offer in the Star Trading System. Too often have people emailed me to enquire about what the Star Trading System page actually sells… is it training? Is it software? This simple intro should give readers a much clearer idea.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the May 8th, 2007
Yes, after half a day of work, I have at last decided to remove the side borders and to darken the main content background color in order to make the site look more professional. I must say that I am very happy with how these adjustments have made such a dramatic change in the feel of the site and will be exploring more ways to make the site more professional looking as we go along.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the May 5th, 2007
I changed the front page picture today into a more professional looking smile as the first phase of our total professional revamp. I have had too many people telling me that our services and products are about the only genuine ones in the world today but we are wrapped in a website that looks “scammy”. After a long struggle with the color scheme, I have decided that professional looking or not has nothing to do with the color scheme but with the web design itself. I will be implementing a series of changes to the site which should make it look a lot more professional… soon.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the April 27th, 2007
Made a new banner for our affiliate program and am truly surprised how professional it looks! Really, there seems to be a formula for what looks professional and what doesn’t. Our optiontradingpedia.com is also getting a lot of attention but as our primary traffic is still from google search, it is a tough battle to keep our rankings high amongst those high PR sites. I hope readers would appreciate what we are trying to do here and help us to spread the word.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the March 21st, 2007
I have been spending a lot of time recently developing a new option trading system. One that will allow a large fund to be used per trade due to its extremely high probability of win, an even smaller margin of loss than our current systems and a big fat profit of about 20% per trade! On top of that, every trade lasts only about 2 days and you can do this, compounded, 3 times a week! Wow! I will not reveal more details than this for now. That is also why I have not been writing articles lately… geez… really need to pick up on article writing soon.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the March 14th, 2007
In order to address common confusion over the time difference between your local time and New York time, I have added a world clock to the Option Trader HQ so that you will not miss another stock pick due to timing or miss market opening due to daylight saving.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the March 6th, 2007
Just when I am wondering what to do to address the complains that our posted results do not take into consideration trade management and commissions and therefore looks scammy, Shyam, Founder of Pro-Options-Profit.com came up with an excellent Interactive Results Console which I could host on my site. Through this console, visitors can for the first time factor in different fund size and trade management policy and see the overall profitability of the Star Trading System. The console is now hosted on the results page.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the March 6th, 2007
I revamped the front page yesterday in order to attain a more professional look while keeping the original elements intact. This was after much complains from clients that our front page looks “scammy”. I made all boxes come with slimmer borders, unified sizes and made sure the page looks tight. I also changed the side borders into 2 slim lines instead of the original faded out ones. I like the overall effect as the site looked more professional without any changes to the original.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 27th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS Markets took a blow today as ex-Fed chairman Alan Greenspan suggested that there might be a recession coming later this year. This is further compounded by oil prices holding steadily above $61. Higher oil price put pressure on the transportation sector as usual with decliners leading advancers by 4 : 1. However, the internals for the market wasn’t bad with advancers parring decliners. The Chicago PMI and ISM this week could still help lift the markets if they turn out well. If oil prices continue to climb on the higher demand due to snow storms, it could end the current rally and put the market into a correction.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS As expected, the Dow corrected right down to the 30 day moving average line and looks poised for another rebound. No surpise on that front. What will seriously surprise me would be if the Dow should close significantly below the 30 days moving average tomorrow on significant volume. That could spell the start of a Dow correction. The Dow has closed slightly below the 30days MA line only once on 28 Nov 2006 ever since this rally started. That was done on low volume and not by a significant margin which did not end the rally then. I think we should see a rebound to new highs soon. On the Nasdaq front, the Nasdaq 100 failed to make a resistance level break as expected and has brought the Nasdaq composite down for a second straight day. With both the Nasdaq composite and the Nasdaq 100 still in overbought condition, we could see a testing of the 50 days MA soon. That would set the Nasdaq composite back down into its lateral channel again. I was so close to changing my hunch for the Nasdaq composite to a bull trend but now, I was right for being just a day more patient. Nasdaq remains plain water to me.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 23rd, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Stocks closed mixed once again today as rising oil prices continue to dampen sentiments in the market. Oil price has seen the light of day once again as it rises above its psychological resistance level to close near the $61 level. Oil has closed this high for the first time since December and certainly looks like it could go higher with all the excuses it needs in place… Increased tension with Iran, the upcoming driving season, lower petroleum inventory and hedge fund moving into commodities. Higher oil prices leads to higher production prices and hence higher retail prices, things that the economy definitely don’t need at this point in time. Higher oil prices may not have an immediate impact on the stock market eventhough in the long run, it certainly will.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Indices continue their expected and normal route of advance today as the Dow pulled back slightly for another day and the Nasdaq composite slowed its advance forward. It is certain normal for the Dow nowadays to pull back for up to 3 days before surging to another new high, forming yet another step in its staircase formation. In fact, it could go all the way down to its 30 days moving average tomorrow, let’s not all be surprised or be put into a panic. The Nasdaq composite slowed its advance as the Nasdaq-100 comes up against its 1850 resistance level. As I have mentioned in my post yesterday, I expected the Nasdaq-100 to find the 1850 resistance level a strong one as it is already in the deep short term overbought region. The Nasdaq-100 and the Nasdaq Composite are displaying a huge spinning top signal at the overbought region and that is usually a very bad thing. Such huge spinning top formations usually decompose into an evening star formation, which is a strong downside reversal signal. Today is again critical to the Nasdaq composite. There is no telling if it will make an advance tomorrow but chances are that it may be more inclined to downside as the Nasdaq-100 doesn’t look ready for a topside break yet.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 22nd, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Stocks opened deep in the mires and closed mixed after CPI numbers showed a “larger than expected” increase in January by 0.3% (analysts are expecting 0.1%). While the CPI numbers did spark some concern that the Feds may be overly optimistic about the results achieved by the rate hikes so far, markets still ended with pretty decent internals with advancers parring decliners 1 : 1. I am impressed with the overall bullishness in the markets today as it held up such great internals despite a barrage of spirit dampening releases and Oil price surging to close slightly above $60. Today is the peak of the storm for the week and with nothing more to shake the markets this week, I would expect the bullishness to return again tomorrow.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
No big surprises today as the Dow dipped slightly as it always had before rebounding into new highs and the Nasdaq composite staged a weak followup to the resistance level break of yesterday. I did not see the kind of strong follow up in the Nasdaq composite today as volume was still mediocre. This does not convince me yet that the Nasdaq composite is ready to trade above the lateral channel within which it has been trading since November 2006. I do however agree that its current sentiment and momentum remains strong to upside. I am not seeing a significant decline in upside momentum in the Nasdaq composite yet as all momentum indicators remain strong. With such strong upside undercurrent, I would expect to see the kind of follow up tomorrow that will change my sentiment on the Nasdaq composite.
If I am so “confident” about the Nasdaq composite, why am I not indicating “Bullish” yet? Well, that is because the Nasdaq 100 is still a distance from its 1840 resistance level and is already into the short term overbought condition. It may be difficult to stage a resistance level break from such overbought condition and if it fails and dips again, it could bring down the Nasdaq Composite too.
That is just me… I am the kind who wants to see real evidence instead of going on a mere hunch. That being said, the Nasdaq composite is still long term bullish as it formed a bull flag formation. We saw similar bull flag formations before in May 2005 and December 2005 before and it usually followed up with a short but strong surge upwards. I am looking for signs and evidences for the beginning of the surge so as to make a move. Thats the difference between swing traders like myself and other long term investors.
I remain Neutral on the Nasdaq composite and Bullish on the Dow.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 20th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Markets continue its bullishness this week as oil prices continue to drop and Fed official’s comments that the housing slump could be bottoming soon and will therefore not drag the economy down. Along with these great market moving news, a couple of great earnings release today also helped the market along. A bullish tone continue to persist in the markets as the earnings season nears its end and that is definitely a great thing. The Consumer Price Index due this Wednesday is going to validate what Uncle Ben has said about controlled inflations and all that optimistic talk last week. If this number fails to impress, it would definitely have a negative impact on the market as everything Uncle Ben said will become doubtful. Analysts are expecting 0.1% versus a 0.5% last month.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Nasdaq made the all important 2500 break today at last! Even though the break was not supported by a very strong voume, it was at least done on rising volume. A steadily rising volume still does speak a lot about a strong trend. I would like to see at least a follow up to this break tomorrow on rising volume to confirm the change in trend. As for the Dow, there was again no surprises as it continues to move sideways with a bullish inclination, completing yet another step in its staircase formation. I would say we should see yet another new high in the Dow by end of this week or early next week.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 19th, 2007
Happy Chinese New Year To All Chinese And All Other Folks Who Celebrates Spring Festival.Unknown to most, Chinese New Year is celebrated over a 15 days period from the First day of the Lunar calendar to the 15th day of the lunar calendar. This is unlike any other festivals in the world.
Last week has been an extremely bullish week in the markets with the Dow and the Nasdaq Composite coincidentally gaining 1.48% each. The bullishness was contributed largely by an overly simplistic and optimistic testimony by Fed Chairman, Uncle Ben. Investors were largely caught up with inflation worries and rate hikes more than an economy that is losing its competitiveness and slowing down. Similarly, Uncle Ben seems more concerned with inflation reports than anything else too. Is this the paper that is attempting to cover up the fire beneath?
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 16th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
The Dow made another historical high today as more evidence to Uncle Ben’s claims surfaced in today’s economic reports. What are these evidences? A big jump in unemployment last week, a record high trade deficit, a death drop in industrial output, a weaker than expected manufacturing in Philadelphia, continued housing slump…
With the economy slowing and weakening at this pace, surely there are no reasons why interest rates should be further raised. The only question is, what matters more to an economy? Higher interest rate? A weaker economy? Even Uncle Ben couldn’t answer to that question. So far, Uncle Ben’s so caught up with trying to tie down baby boomer’s money in the markets by giving investors exactly what they want to hear and see that few questioned or answered to these fundamentals. Seriously, what is actually going to cause severe damage to the US economy is the large scale baby boomer drawout looming in the horizon and by giving them a reason to continue to keep their money in the markets is certainly one way to delay the inevitable.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
No surprise today as markets continued its advance at a slower pace. The Dow looks like it is ready to move sideways again in preparation for yet another step in its staircase formation. Volume of trade is significantly lower today indicating a lack of follow up to the rally yesterday. This is hardly surprising as that is the way the Dow behaved since the rally begun. Tomorrow is going to be a critical day for the Nasdaq Composite as it has reached the 2500 resistance level at last. Tomorrow will reveal if it will make a break and begin a bull trend or not. Things still look good for a break as short term stochastics is still a small jump away from being overbought and MACD continue to show growing upside momentum. Even though that gave me enough reasons to believe that Nasdaq will at least make a short term surge, I will not change my sentiments untill I see actual proof of a break.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 15th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Markets continued its bullishness today as Fed Chairman Bernanke (Uncle Ben) took the bench and painted a rosy picture for all investors to lavish on. Here are some market moving quotes:
“inflation pressures are beginning to diminish.”
“likely to foster sustainable economic growth and a gradual ebbing of core inflation.”
“Overall, the U.S. economy seems likely to expand at a moderate pace this year and next, with growth strengthening somewhat as the drag from housing diminishes,”
Uncle Ben sounded extremely optimistic and is a great contrast from what we have heard from the Feds so far… this makes the intent highly suspicious. Well, no matter what the intent may be, this is exactly the kind of things investors love to hear from a man like Uncle Ben… no matter if it be true or not. This, along with a drop in oil price due to healthy oil inventories, helped to push the Dow to yet another historical high. There will be more heavy weight economic release along the week which should either give emphasis or diminish what Uncle Ben just said. Realistically, we should not be getting a rate cut anytime soon as core inflation numbers are just beginning to go down. I seriously don’t think the Feds will start to make any adjustments when their efforts has just begun to show up.
Technical Analysis
The Dow is at new highs! Did it come as a surprise to you? Certainly not to me. Here’s my quote from yesterday:
“If the pattern holds, we should see a new high by tomorrow.”
And indeed, we see the Dow at new highs today, beautifully and faithfully completing yet another step in its staircase formation. It is also interesting to note how nice economic news seems to tie in nicely with every step that is formed in the Dow chart. The Nasdaq composite has been faithfully neutral for a few days and have been off my focus for a while, today, the Nasdaq composite made a comeback at last to challenge the 2500 resistance level. The last time the Nasdaq composite made a trip this high up, it is already in the deep overbought condition. This made it very difficult to have any energy left to break a resistance level. This time round, the Nasdaq composite is still a mile from being overbought and with growing upside momentum on growing volume, it looks like it just might make it this time round. A high volume break above the 2500 level with a nice follow up will bring Nasdaq out of its current neutral trend into a short term up trend. As for the Dow, it is almost certain to see it start to go sideways again tomorrow or the day after. So far, both indices has stayed true to their patterns and my sentiments remain Bullish for the Dow and Neutral for Nasdaq.
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Sometimes I would rather call Fundamental Analysis, “Sentimental Analysis”.
Market sentiments took a 180 degrees turn today as the Dow surged 102 on reports that 2 seperate companies are looking to take over Alcoa (AA). AA surged 6.38% in a single day on this news ending up $35.00. These are the kind of news that sends every investor rushing into a single stock. On top of that, oil prices also surged by almost 2% today, lifting the Energy sector to a 3 : 1 advance. All in all, the markets has started out very encouraging this week. Whether this momentum continues or not really depend on how well the heavy weight economic data goes for the rest of the week and what sentiment Chairman Bernanke decides to throw into the market. The market remain highly sentimental and easily shaken by the slightest indication of inflation and weakening economy. Already U.S. trade deficit has widened in December to $61.2 bln in a report yesterday but has so far been ignored amidst the Alcoa excitement. If Bernanke’s testimony and the rest of the data this week prove to be weak, investors will start to take it seriously. Today, participation in the market is not impressive either as volume remains slightly below average for the month. This shows that a lot of investors are still sitting on the sidelines waiting for the heavy weight economic comments and data to hit the wires. Let’s keep our periscopes up while bathing in the excitement.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Today is a day which is both surprising and not surprising. What wasn’t surprising was the rebound in both the Dow and the Nasdaq composite. They behaved as we have expected and therefore is not surprising. What was surprising was the readiness at which it happened. Even though I expected a rebound in both indices, I really expected the Dow to do so only after another day or two of crawling along the 30 days MA and after the Dow’s short term stochastics has crossed below the 50 line. Well, with today’s surge, the Dow has once again begun the formation of yet another step in its staircase formation. If the pattern holds, we should see a new high by tomorrow. Eventhough all technical indications remain healthy to upside, I do see a negative trend developing in the Dow. The Dow’s rally so far has showed up on the ADX as a healthy, growing bull trend until 27 Nov 2006. Since that day, ADX has been showing a really mixed and uncertain trend and since that day, the Dow’s rally has slowed down and the gradient of its 30 days moving average has declined significantly. The result of which is an extremely choppy market which makes it very hard for short term technical swing traders to take a swing at a home run. If this pattern continues, it will not be surprising to see the Dow slowly and stealthily degenerate into a neutral trend. For now, my sentiments remain the same… Bullish on the Dow and Neutral on Nasdaq.
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Markets follow up on last Friday’s bearishness today ( Dow – 0.22%, Nasdaq – 0.38% )ahead of Fed Chairman Bernanke’s testimony in front of the Senate and House representatives. After all that hawkish talk by Fed representatives last week, all investors will be peeled to listen out to Bernanke this Wednesday and Thursday for any further clues as to what the Feds might do next. A week of important economic data ahead, dropping oil prices bringing the energy sector down, widely held sentiments that a correction is at our doorstep and volatility caused by an option expiration week, all act together to form the bearish undercurrent that we see now. Oil took a hit today and closed below $58 at $57.90. That caused a broad based decline in the Energy sector with decliners leading advancers 5 : 1. This week’s PPI and Consumer Sentiment numbers would really be the kill or cure of this market now as investors need to see that inflation is under control and consumers are happy before any bullishness will return to the markets.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Back to my favorite section. Sometimes life can be very simple. Just as you would gauge the health of a fax machine by the fineness of its print output and the health of a light bulb by the brightness and consistency of its glow, we can gauge the health of the market by its charts too.
As I have mentioned yesterday, the main things to watch out for this week is whether the Dow and the Nasdaq Composite hold or break their 30 days moving average support level. After today’s 0.22% drop in the Dow, the Dow continues to hold above its 30 days moving average line with significantly lower volume. The Dow may trade atop its 30 days moving average for a few days before continuing its staircase like formation to new highs. We saw the same action on 27 Nov 06 and 25 Jan 07.
How about the Dow popularly being “Overbought”? Well, seriously, how do we determine overbought in this case? The Dow is used to trading in the deep, long and short term overbought condition with very little retreat or correction. That would mean that bailing out simply because it is “overbought” on the RSI or Stochastics do not make very good sense in terms of profit maximisation. The weekly and monthly time frame continues to show higher highs and lows with no clear indication of a correction yet. The 3 days drop in the Dow has also helped it get off its short term overbought condition and that is forming the stage for another possible rebound. Commonly, we see the Dow rebound from its 30 days moving average once the short term stochastics cross down below the 50 line. At this point of time, the Dow’s short term stochastics is still a small leap to the 50 line. That gives more evidence that the Dow will continue to trade sideways along the 30 days moving average while setting its stochastics back down to the 50 line at least.
So, what about the “Bearish” sentiment so far? Well, a bearish sentiment reaches a concensus and really affects the market when we see a ditch along with a surge in volume at a critical support level. After that, the bears should continue to follow up with a few more days of drops along with rising volume to set the bearish engine into action. This was exactly what I saw during the May 2006 correction. So far, I saw neither a neck breaking, support level jarring ditch nor do we see rising volume supporting the move to downside.
Now, am I saying that the market will rise infinitely? Definitely not. I have defined the exact beginning of a correction as “A break below the 30 and 50 days moving average on high and rising volume“. If that happens, we might see a correction as deep as a testing of the 100 days moving average.
Now, what about fibonacci? Well, I still think that is a highly subjective psuedo science that requires the most developed minds in predictive technical analysis to execute reasonably… guess I am just not that highly evolved yet…hahaha. (Seriously, if any of you readers are good Fib analysts, I sincerely invite you to co-author this blog. Just email me at founder@mastersoequity.com Please)
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 12th, 2007
This is going to be an exciting and critical week in the US markets…
This is going to be a week full of important economic releases which every investor will be watching after the Fed has everyone on their toes with their speech last week… (For free weekly market calendar, put/call ratios, news headlines and more all on ONE PAGE, please visit and bookmark Option Trader HQ)
This is going to be a week where the Dow and the Nasdaq composite decide if their 30 days MA support level still hold or not. A high volume break below their 30 days MA this week could mean that the correction that everyone has been waiting for is here at last…
This is going to be the week where MSFT (after a 4.01% decline last week!) decides if it will halt its decline at the $28.00 Support Level or not…
All these and more will be revealed to you as I watch, comment and analyse the markets and MSFT this week…
Posted in blog by Administrator on the February 10th, 2007
I added a column that displays headlines from SEO blogs all over the world so that affiliates can not only learn from my experience but from the experience of other experts around the world too. I will be on the lookout for more and better SEO or affiliate marketing blogs so as to display their content on the page too.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 10th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Markets took a beating as a snow storm takes New York city today. The chill seems to have set in on the markets as well as the Dow took a 0.45% beating and the Nasdaq composite erased 7 days of gains, collapsing down 1.16%. Everything in the world seems connected in all ways. A comfortable warmer winter gave the markets a boost and when the snow come back, the markets go into hybernation too. This avalanche was due mainly to a severe letdown in the Financial and Tech sector as borrowing rates increased. Let us not forget that the Financial sector contributed to 8% of the 11% growth in the S&P500 and a correction in the financial sector will certainly make itself heard. Decliners in the Financial Services sector led advancers by more than 3 : 1 and decliners in the Nasdaq 100 led advancers by more than 8 : 1! The Fed’s hawkish statement underlying that inflation is still a concern further depressed investor sentiments. Next week is another week of economic releases and that could be another reason for the bail out today. Investors would want to play it safe by taking profits off the table before the uncertainty set in next week.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
I was surprised today at how readily the markets corrected today by such a great magnitude. I expected the Dow to take a slight dip before it climbs to new highs and that the Nasdaq composite will struggle against its 2500 resistance level but what surprised me was the magnitude and the readiness at which it happened. Well, what was again not so surprising was that the markets are used to doing things like that anyways. That is why technical traders like us read the overall chart patterns and not get all caught up with what happened on any particular day. Both the Dow and the Nasdaq Composite closed near their 30 days moving average support level, which are still healthy. As the indices are still only very slightly off their short term overbought condition, it will not be strange to see Nasdaq trade sideways a little for a few days along the 30 days moving average before mustering enough energy for another charge. As for the Dow, I see that it has completed another step in its staircase formation and is ready for a rebound to new highs and we might see that happen within these few days. But does that mean that the Dow will continue to rise endlessly? Definitely Not. So what will the first indication of a correction be? A Close Below The 30 days Moving Average.
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Stocks were down just marginally today as oil prices break the $60 psychological resistance level and reports that home prices have yet to reach a bottom. Stocks have been incredibly resilient in the face of these traditionally market moving bad news this time round as advancers par decliners 1 : 1. Stocks hit today are from the Materials & Construction sector as stocks like TOL plunged 3.02%. US homes are estimated to be more than 400,000 more than demand can handle and will continue to pose a problem to the supply/demand curve. Frankly, the stock market has been handling the housing crisis well so far as it does look like it is in for a soft landing, as the Feds wanted it to be, even though we are not seeing a bottom just as yet. Giving markets a lift today from its intraday low was oil prices breaking the $60 level, lifting the energy sector. It does look like, so far, that the OPEC production cut along with a higher demand as the winter chills return in a big way is acting together to give oil prices a serious boost. Will this rally in oil prices put pressure on the stock markets?
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Ah… back to my favorite section. As a technical chartist, I somehow see more sense from my charts than from the news most of the time.
Again, no surprise today as both the Dow and the Nasdaq composite closed sideways. The Dow formed a “Hammer” candlestick signal today as market forces take it off its intraday lows to close near opening level. A hammer candlestick signal at this level tells me that there is a strong undercurrent to the Dow. This has also helped the Dow get off its short term overbought condition. A hammer signal occuring along with RSI has moving off from the deep overbought region has preceded the Dow climbing to new highs 4 out of 4 times over the last 5 months. The Nasdaq composite remains short term overbought and has started to lose upside momentum in the face of the 2500 resistance level. Seriously, it is difficult for a tired man to fight a giant and is certain difficult for the Nasdaq composite at such deep overbought condition to make a break anytime soon. It could take a short breather at this level before facing off the 2500 level next week.
I see another interesting pattern emerging today… since 14 July 2006, the market has moved completely inversely to the movement in oil prices. However, that pattern was broken on 18 Jan 2007 as the markets rallied along with the rally in oil prices. What does this mean? Does it mean that higher oil prices will now actually be beneficial to the economy and the stock markets?
I have written and published a new article today named “Financial Technical Analysis Using Volume” at http://www.mastersoequity.com/articles11.htm . The article aims to teach traders how to better gauge entry and exit points using volume analysis in conjunction with their chart reading. The article is also optimised for the keyword “Financial Technical Analysis” which is a high volume search term with very low competition. Hope this article makes it high in the search engines.
Posted in blog by Administrator on the February 8th, 2007
Well, I simply cannot wait any longer to launch this new award feature.
I have been trying to gather views about how the medal rack looks for the past week and I think it is time to launch the program. Instead of trying to create a widget with which the award recipients could host on their site or blog, I have simply given each Master Star Trader a picture url that corresponds to their names. So all they do is to host the image url and then everytime a Master Star Trader attains the status again, I will simply update that image file and the medal rack will automatically update itself with an extra medal on the recipient’s site or blog. Just trying to make things a little simple here.
I also made a page explaining the web medal scheme and updated all master star trader’s pictures with their corresponding web medal in miniature form in the Master Star Trader Hall of Fame page.
I hope that this web medal scheme will help Master Star Traders who are also affiliates win more clickthroughs on their site and also hope to encourage Master Star Traders of long ago to once again post their trades and compete for more medals in the Hall of Fame.
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Not much fundamentals at work today as the Dow continue to close sideways on a dropping oil price. The Nasdaq composite took a boost from Cisco today as we have predicted yesterday and headed up 0.77%, the biggest single day gain in 5 days. Wholesale inventories numbers for Dec will be released tomorrow. This number tells us how much inventory is left after December sales and tells the tale of how active retailers had been. Although not a major release, it does hint at the health of the economy and with a complete lack of any market moving news release this week, this may well turn out to be quite important. Expectations are for Wholesale inventories to drop from 1.3% to 0.6%.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Again, no surprise today as the Dow continued sideways to form another step in its staircase formation and the Nasdaq composite continued up towards the 2500 resistance level as expected. Both indices remain in short term overbought condition and looking back at past behaviour, it is unlikely to see the Dow surge to new highs until it has moved sideways enough or even ditch slightly to wear off its short term overbought condition. The outlook for the Nasdaq Composite continue to be extremely uncertain. Even though the Nasdaq composite has moved very near to its 2500 resistance level, the Nasdaq 100 is still a distance from its 1840 resistance level on rising upside momentum. The Nasdaq 100, with its growing momentum and distance from resistance level, may well help to drive the Nasdaq composite beyond its 2500 resistance level. Oil prices has failed to break the $60 resistance level and has started to ditch after taking a bang on the head. Even though it will affect the energy sector negatively, it should help drive the rest of the market up. That is again, another plus for the markets. All in all, my sentiment remains the same… Bullish for the Dow and Neutral for the Nasdaq Composite. (until proven otherwise)
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 8th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Not much fundamentals at work today as the Dow continue to close sideways on a dropping oil price. The Nasdaq composite took a boost from Cisco today as we have predicted yesterday and headed up 0.77%, the biggest single day gain in 5 days. Wholesale inventories numbers for Dec will be released tomorrow. This number tells us how much inventory is left after December sales and tells the tale of how active retailers had been. Although not a major release, it does hint at the health of the economy and with a complete lack of any market moving news release this week, this may well turn out to be quite important. Expectations are for Wholesale inventories to drop from 1.3% to 0.6%.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Again, no surprise today as the Dow continued sideways to form another step in its staircase formation and the Nasdaq composite continued up towards the 2500 resistance level as expected. Both indices remain in short term overbought condition and looking back at past behaviour, it is unlikely to see the Dow surge to new highs until it has moved sideways enough or even ditch slightly to wear off its short term overbought condition. The outlook for the Nasdaq Composite continue to be extremely uncertain. Even though the Nasdaq composite has moved very near to its 2500 resistance level, the Nasdaq 100 is still a distance from its 1840 resistance level on rising upside momentum. The Nasdaq 100, with its growing momentum and distance from resistance level, may well help to drive the Nasdaq composite beyond its 2500 resistance level. Oil prices has failed to break the $60 resistance level and has started to ditch after taking a bang on the head. Even though it will affect the energy sector negatively, it should help drive the rest of the market up. That is again, another plus for the markets. All in all, my sentiment remains the same… Bullish for the Dow and Neutral for the Nasdaq Composite. (until proven otherwise)
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 7th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Markets did a scary and surprising ditch mid day before recovering to close marginally higher today. By the end of the day, the mid day ditch proved to be nothing as advancers still led decliners 2 : 1. Bernanke gave his speech today and made no committment nor comments on things that really matter… as expected again in my post yesterday. The prime mover of the tech sector tomorrow will no doubt be the extremely good earnings by Cisco (CSCO). Cisco was already trading up 4.8% in after hours trading after its announcement at about 5pm! With no new economic release to drive the market, great earnings like these certainly takes center stage. There are still more great market moving earnings releases coming up this week like Bank Of America tomorrow and Eastman Kodak on Friday. Earnings are expected to be optimistic throughout the week on holiday spending. Stay tuned!
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Markets closed sideways today in lethargy again. The Dow continues to move sideways in order to form another step in its staircase formation and the Nasdaq Composite moved sideways as it moved into a short term overbought condition. I have expressed the same concern yesterday that the Nasdaq Composite is going into short term overbought so quickly and so far away from its resistance level.This, along with unmistakable loss of upside momentum from most momentum indicators, tells me that the Nasdaq composite is not ready for an all out topside break yet. Unless the CSCO rally do something to help the Nasdaq composite tomorrow, I would say that the Nasdaq composite should stay within a 2450 / 2500 trading channel until it wears off some short term overbought sentiments and then stage another rally. My sentiments therefore remains the same… Up for the Dow and Sideways for Nasdaq.
Posted in blog by Administrator on the February 6th, 2007
In order to help our affiliates get a head start in marketing our products and services through their blogs and website, especially those with very new blogs or sites with very little traffic, I have written a tip on how to make use of blog exchanges and social networks in order to start getting some free, high quality traffic. All of these are proven in my personal experience and should help crank up the engine on our affiliate’s marketing efforts. Even though I market mastersoequity.com primarily through PPCs, I still put in a significant amount of time and effort developing online communities and exchanges in order to drive in those extra, targetted traffic. See it at http://www.mastersoequity.com/affiliate_tips.php .
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 6th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Markets slowed to take a breather today after an exciting week last week. The Dow closed up marginally by 0.07% and the Nasdaq composite closed down by 0.21%. The drop in the Nasdaq composite was due mainly to a severe drop in MSFT after comments was made that the sale on Window Vista do not justify the current high share prices. With no big releases to move the market, investors may be looking forward to more of Benanke’s speeches tomorrow. We all know that Bernanke’s speeches are crafted to sound hawkish at all times so that markets are not affected, so, its really down to the sentiments that are already within all investors to interpret what they hear. My take is that whatever he says will not have a lasting effect on the stock markets.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
The Dow and the Nasdaq composite took a break today as they closed sideways. By now, it is obvious that the Dow is forming yet another step in its staircase or saw teeth formation and we should therefore see another new high by the end of the week or early next week. Nasdaq took a breather today as it continued its journey to the 2500 resistance level. Although still a distance from that level, it is already displaying slight indications of short term overbought condition. Usually when prices are this close to resistance level, I would ideally love to see relative indicators and momentum indicators slightly off the short term overbought levels so that it has more technical energy to stage a breakthrough. From what I see of the Nasdaq composite now, it may still have a little problem at the 2500 level once again. This is compounded also by a slowing energy sector as oil prices come against a strong $60 resistance level and have started to show weakness. All in all, my take remains that the Dow is in a Bullish Trend and the Nasdaq composite remains in a Neutral Trend.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 5th, 2007
Last week has been extremely encouraging as the Dow and the Nasdaq Composite rebounded from a dangerous support level. This week is going to be a week that is pretty uncertain, with no major new release to drive the markets, the Dow and the Nasdaq composite will once again be technically driven. The week looks slightly gloomy for the Dow as it looks like it will form yet another step in its staircase formation this week, however, we can certainly expect yet another new high from the Dow soon after the step has been formed. The Nasdaq composite is coming up against a strong 2500 resistance level which it once failed on 16 Jan 07. With important Nasdaq components like KLAC, CTSH and CSCO reporting earnings this week, their performance may well determine if the Nasdaq composite breaks the 2500 resistance level or not. For now, the Nasdaq composite remains in a neutral trend, the one it has been in since Nov 06.
Posted in blog by Administrator on the February 4th, 2007
In an effort to give more recognition to our monthly Master Star Traders, especially those who are repeat Master Star Traders, I have decided to start a web medals program where Master Star Traders get to put up a graphic medal rack on their page that automatically updates itself with 1 medal everytime you attain the status of Master Star Trader! Coming Very Soon! Stay Tuned!
Posted in blog by Administrator on the February 3rd, 2007
I added a 5 days trend chart for the put/call ratio in the Option Trader HQ at last. This will enable traders to see how the trend has been over the past week instead of just whether it has increased or decreased for the day. I made that chart using Excel and will certainly mean an additional work load for me just making that chart over and over again everyday… I am wondering if a widget could be made for this purpose… anyone who knows how to make one and would like to contribute, please email me at founder@mastersoequity.com .
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 3rd, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
The Dow closed marginally lower on rising oil prices and rising unemployment. The oil bull continued its charge towards the $60 line today to close slightly above $59. The cold weather and the OPEC production cuts are definitely the main mover of oil prices and with its current velocity, it will not be a surprise to see oil above $60 once again next week. Let’s not forget that we are in a period where oil prices tend to be higher than usual over the years. I would say a more accurate picture of oil price should emerge only after the winter chills. Companies also put on less jobs than usual, resulting in rising unemployment. Even though that could be interpreted as a sign of weakness in the economy, I do not think it has such a big impact on the stock markets. What we saw today was probably just a small shakeup from investors in the Depression Worry camp as advancers still led decliners for the day and the Nasdaq composite ended higher regardlessly. Let’s not forget that most investors are still in the Inflation Worry camp, not the Depression Worry camp. With hourly earnings rising just 0.2%, the Fed’s concern over inflationary wages are eased for now, as investors in the Inflation Worry camp smiles. Even though oil prices are expected to continue its bullishness next week, I do not foresee that being an event that can shake the bullishness that is in the markets as the economy comes to a soft landing as most investors hoped.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
It seems like these days, the Dow is more and more eager to form another step in its staircase formation as soon as new historical highs are made. With the Dow at short term overbought condition, it’s not surprising to see it go down slightly before rising up to new historical highs. Traders who are utterly confused with all the staircase formation talk in the Dow so far and wants a simpler way to trade the Dow for the mid to long term, an easier way will be to monitor its 30 days simple moving average. As a rule of thumb, as long as its 30 MA is rising, you can continue to go long on the Dow. When the Dow close below the 30MA, it is time to hold and when the 30 MA is pointing down, it is time to sell and go short. With the Dow making very short bursts and retreats, it is almost impossible to momentum trade or short term swing trade the Dow. The Nasdaq composite continues to rise slowly and steadily as it lingers just slightly off its short term overbought region. With the 2500 resistance level looming just ahead and oil prices continuing its bullishness, driving the energy sector on, the undercurrent is strong for Nasdaq to make a break through this time.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 2nd, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Stocks were up today despite a greater than usual contraction on the ISM index, which reports on manufacturing growth, down to 49.3%. A figure below 50% indicates contracting manufacturing growth in the country. Evidently, the manufacturing capital of the world has already started to cast its effects all over the world and the rest of the world need to learn how to work with and grow with it. The main piece of good news that contributed greatly to today’s continued gains is the lower than expected core PCE deflator, an inflation indicator which the Feds watch intently. The indicator reported only a 0.1% rise which is fantastic considering the year on year increase of 2.2%. This shows that inflation is indeed under control, especially so when the indicator has been increasing slower over the last 3 months. Nothing assures investors more than a controlled inflation and interest rates under control.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Completely no surprise in the market actions today, technically. The Dow made yet another historical high as we have predicted last week when it ditched and the Nasdaq composite continued its journey up in a slow and steady fashion. Both indices are showing growing upside momentum while still not in the short term overbought region. This shows that there are more upside to go before the Dow pause to form another step in its staircase formation and the Nasdaq composite has to struggle at its 2500 resistance level once again. Many investors are concerned about the contraction in volume in the Dow today and deems it too early in a push for volume to be drying up. That is actually a false concern. The rally in the Dow so far has been a series of short term bursts and contractions in what I call the “staircase formation”. It is not strange to see a burst and then contraction a couple of days later at all. That’s the Dow game plan and as long as trend lines remain intact and the chart pattern maintains its integrity, there are no sense in finding bones in an egg at all. Oil challenged the $59 level today and failed, falling down $0.74 for the day, forming a shooting star candlestick formation… a strong bearish formation. It is always interesting to see such a candlestick formation when the sentiments on the streets remain bullish… lets see who wins the race…
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 1st, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Interest Rates remained unchanged (as expected) yesterday as the Feds paused rates for a fifth straight time. Even though this has been largely expected, markets still rallied right from the moment the Feds released their extremely optimistic statement underlying a “moderate growth” in the economy and the success of a “soft landing”. It is probably this optimism that resulted in the surge yesterday. Investors live in fear of rate hikes and such a statement clearly eases such fears. Oil continued to climb yesterday as it posted a largest 2 days combined gain in 6 months. Clearly the bullishness has returned in oil price as oil lingered around the $58 level. So far, an optimistic Fed statement has been all it takes to ensure that the markets resume its bullishness… only one question remains, what will happen after the ecstasy is over and oil prices continue to climb to new highs?
TECHNICALS ANALYSIS
Even though yesterday’s market actions were surprising to many market analysts, it is hardly surprising for technical analysts. In fact, everything that happened yesterday were largely expected and explained in my post yesterday. The Dow surged 0.79% to form yet another step in its staircase formation as expected and the Nasdaq composite rebounded off its 50 days moving average support level on a “Black & White Brothers” candlestick formation… again, largely as expected. Even though not much of a surprise in the Dow front, the Nasdaq composite still needs a good follow up today and get above the 2570 level to seal in a change in sentiments. For 3 days have the Nasdaq composite failed to break the 2570 level and breaking that level would certain boost the confidence of technical analysts everywhere. Overall, all technical indicators are showing a rising in upside momentum and a reversal from a short term oversold condition. Along with the rebound from critical support levels and a healthy chart pattern, I would say the bulls are back… at least for now, until we meet the next matador.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the February 1st, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Markets were up marginally yesterday as investors show slight signs of bullishness ahead of the FOMC release today along with a 5% spike in oil prices lifting the energy sector. The oil rally yesterday has been the combined effect of the cold weather returning and OPEC returning to talks on further production cuts. The recent drop in oil price has been the direct result of lower demands due to a warm winter. With the chill returning and lifting demand, it is certainly not strange to see oil prices getting back up to where it was before the drop early this month. Analyst continue to suggest that oil prices should stablise between $55 and $60 and frankly, that is my take on oil too as OPEC simply cannot stand watching oil prices go down below $50. Consumer confidence index released yesterday also edged up from 110.0 to 110.3, showing a marginal increase in consumer confidence in January. This is also the highest level in 5 years suggesting that consumers are driving the economy and should continue to do so in the coming months. Consumer spending makes up about two thirds of the US economy and that makes the consumer confidence index an important economic indicator. Well, so far, before the FOMC release today, everything looks rosy and pretty. The next few days will reveal the true effects of today’s FOMC release.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Oil price formed and completed a cup and handle formation at last. I have suggested in my post on 23 Jan 07 that oil prices might not go straight up but would form a cup and handle formation before going up and yesterday, we witnessed that coming to be. We should see a testing of the $60 psychological resistance level soon and with oil prices showing a short term overbought condition, that resistance level might be a tough one to break. Both the Dow and Nasdaq continued to trade and close sideways yesterday as everyone awaits the FOMC release and its effects. Yes, we all know what the release will most probably going to be but we cannot predict its effects. I noticed the Nasdaq composite made a small but important move yesterday and that was, its closing above its 50 days moving average at last. Yesterday, I was concerned that the 50 days moving average is subtly turning into a resistance level instead of a support level as it has traded below it for 5 of the past 6 trading days. Today it seems like it no longer the case and with short term stochastics in oversold condition and turning upwards, there is strong potential energy in the Nasdaq composite to stage a rebound. Looks like the “Black & White Brothers” formation is working this time round. The Dow still looks healthy and ordinary as before, waiting to make yet another new step in its staircase formation to a new historical high.
Posted in blog by Administrator on the January 31st, 2007
This is a month of an equal number of good and bad picks. I am admit that this month’s bad picks are due mainly to my failure to apply our earnings release rule properly. Applied properly, this month would be down to only 1 loss and 3 wins. Our loss this month on XLNX and GLW are a direct result of no applying the earnings release rules. Well, this is life and again a grim reminder that even professionals should review trading rules regularly and always, ALWAYS, stand on the tip of our feet. I know for a fact that I cannot afford to make mistakes because my mistakes will affect many subscribers. Let this be the start of a new and profitable year… start the year off on a lesson that I will bear for the rest of the year and to make sure such reputation affecting mistakes don’t happen again.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 31st, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Markets were up marginally yesterday as investors show slight signs of bullishness ahead of the FOMC release today along with a 5% spike in oil prices lifting the energy sector. The oil rally yesterday has been the combined effect of the cold weather returning and OPEC returning to talks on further production cuts. The recent drop in oil price has been the direct result of lower demands due to a warm winter. With the chill returning and lifting demand, it is certainly not strange to see oil prices getting back up to where it was before the drop early this month. Analyst continue to suggest that oil prices should stablise between $55 and $60 and frankly, that is my take on oil too as OPEC simply cannot stand watching oil prices go down below $50. Consumer confidence index released yesterday also edged up from 110.0 to 110.3, showing a marginal increase in consumer confidence in January. This is also the highest level in 5 years suggesting that consumers are driving the economy and should continue to do so in the coming months. Consumer spending makes up about two thirds of the US economy and that makes the consumer confidence index an important economic indicator. Well, so far, before the FOMC release today, everything looks rosy and pretty. The next few days will reveal the true effects of today’s FOMC release.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Oil price formed and completed a cup and handle formation at last. I have suggested in my post on 23 Jan 07 that oil prices might not go straight up but would form a cup and handle formation before going up and yesterday, we witnessed that coming to be. We should see a testing of the $60 psychological resistance level soon and with oil prices showing a short term overbought condition, that resistance level might be a tough one to break. Both the Dow and Nasdaq continued to trade and close sideways yesterday as everyone awaits the FOMC release and its effects. Yes, we all know what the release will most probably going to be but we cannot predict its effects. I noticed the Nasdaq composite made a small but important move yesterday and that was, its closing above its 50 days moving average at last. Yesterday, I was concerned that the 50 days moving average is subtly turning into a resistance level instead of a support level as it has traded below it for 5 of the past 6 trading days. Today it seems like it no longer the case and with short term stochastics in oversold condition and turning upwards, there is strong potential energy in the Nasdaq composite to stage a rebound. Looks like the “Black & White Brothers” formation is working this time round. The Dow still looks healthy and ordinary as before, waiting to make yet another new step in its staircase formation to a new historical high.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 30th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
Markets closed marginally up as investors sit on the only day of the week without any critical economic releases. Such is the typical behavior just days before every FOMC releases. Even though it is almost certain that interest rates are going to stay stagnant, investors are expecting the Feds to put on a hawkish stand about future interest rate movements, leaving a lot of investors on the fence, waiting to see the initial reactions to the release. Yesterday’s trading volume is the lowest so far for 2007 and CBOE’s equity put call ratio remained relatively stagnant. Is this the fabled calm before the storm?
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Markets closed sideways yesterday as both the Dow and the Nasdaq composite struggled to stage a rebound. The Dow closed sideways but traded above its 30 days moving average support level for whole of the day to close right on top of it again. This is again a healthy sign that the support level for the Dow is strong and investor sentiments remain bullish inclined. This gave the Dow a high chance of rebounding off this level to form yet another step in its staircase formation and therefore yet another historical high. This little consolidation has also helped the Dow get off its short term overbought condition, thereby giving it more headroom for growth in the short term. The Nasdaq composite is, again, slightly more shaky. Even though it has been trading sideways these 2 trading days, it has closed right below its 50 days moving average support level in a fashion which almost transforms the support level into a resistance level which is hard to break upwards from. Over the last 6 trading days, the Nasdaq composite has closed just slightly below its 50 days moving average for 5 of these days. Even though support and resistance level analysis is not a precise science and such situations are common, it still does cast a hawkish shadow. One reassurance at this point is that the Nasdaq composite is forming yet another “Black & White Brothers” candlestick formation. (Please read my post on 21 Dec 2006 for explanations… http://sharemarketcomments.blogspot.com/2006/12/daily-us-market-comments-21-dec-2006-by.html ) This is a high probability bullish formation, even though it failed to effect a rebound on 21 Dec, it still does have a large string of successes going back.
So, it seems like the week has just begun today! Traders, take your positions, and….
Posted in blog by Administrator on the January 29th, 2007
We offer a 3 months interest free installment on most of our training products here but no one seems to know that because the huge “Sign Up” button didn’t quite communicate that to the consumers. I have therefore added a line (Find Out How To Sign Up Using Our Interest-Free 3 Months Installment Scheme By Clicking On The “Sign Up” Button Below Now!) in order to tell viewers that they can get access to the 3 months installment scheme by clicking on the sign up button. Hope this works.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 29th, 2007
Last week was an extremely turbulent week with the indices going up and down like rouge waves. Major indices were down for the week and the Nasdaq composite index is back down where we started last Monday. Like I said last week, it is again going to be a very critical week for the Nasdaq Composite as the index is again at a very dangerous position, a position that can decompose into a downwards, bear trend if it’s 50 days moving average and the 2400 psychological support level do not hold. If that happens, it will not be long before the Dow follow suit.
This week is again going to be a stormy week for the US markets. There will be major “weather systems” formed by important economic releases such as the GDP numbers, FOMC release, oil inventories, jobless rate, chicago PMI…etc. (For a full list of the releases this week, please visit Option Trader HQ )Again, the markets will be torn apart by the inflation worries and depression worries camp. Too much good news activates the inflation worries camp and too much bad news activates the depression worries camp. Who wil reign supreme this week?
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 27th, 2007
It has been a roller coaster week in the stock markets this whole week. Starting from the severe drop on Monday (Dow -0.7%, Nasd -0.83%), to the false hope on Tuesday and Wednesday (Dow +1.16%, Nasd +1.45%)and finally the dashing of all hopes again on Thursday and Friday (Dow -1.07%, Nasd -1.25%). Overall, the Dow has lost 0.62% and the Nasdaq composite has lost 0.65% this week. Such a sideways, whipsaw market has made it extremely difficult for swing traders to take positions and has kept fundamentalists guessing all week. It was clear this whole week that news have almost no authority in predicting where the market might go in the short term at all. However, technical analysis on the markets still tell a more congruent tale. The Dow and the Nasdaq composite was bouncing atop their respective 30 days and 50 days moving average support level whole week, wearing off short term overbought sentiments and poising for a rebound. Technicals remain healthy for a rebound next week with both the Dow and Nasdaq closing with a long tail bullish harami on their support levels. However, let us not make our move before the market moves its move.
Posted in blog by Administrator on the January 27th, 2007
After so many years of being in this business with the Star Trading System, I have been thinking of a simple one sentence definition for it. One that would communicate its unique mechanical approach on swing trading stocks, optimised for option trading. At last I got it after one good night sleep….
Star Trading System : Systematic Option Swing Trading System!
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 26th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
The stock market took all of us by surprise yesterday. It felt like our travel bus has just been car-jacked just a stop from our travel destination. Just when the market is picking up on all the fantastic earnings coming in these 2 days and the great economic data, existing home sales reported a “larger than expected” decline. This, again sparked new worries on whether the housing sector is indeed coming to a soft landing as billions of dollars are at stake there along with billions in mortgage and whether the Feds would cut interest rates soon. The US treasury’s benchmark 10 years note also rose to 5 months high, breaking the 4.8% barrier. This further encouraged exit from the equity market in favor of the bonds market. Yesterday saw the hardest one day fall of 2007 so far and it all happened so fast that it caught all of us by surprise. So, if this is happening despite as the great releases so far, then there is little fundamentals we can fall back on to look into the future… let’s go technical…
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Talking about a hard hard fall. My mentor used to tell me that the bulls take the stairs and the bears jump off the windows… that was what we witnessed yesterday. The Bears took out in one day what the bulls built in 2 days. Both the Dow and the Nasdaq composite are back down to their respective 30 days MA and 50days MA support level. The candlesticks are showing a bearish engulf formation which indicates a strong and sudden shift of investor sentiment from bullish to bearish. All momentum indicators also showed a sharp reversal of momentum to downside. So, are we still safe? Yes, but we are certainly at the edge of the cliff once again. The Dow is still riding above its strong 30 days MA support level and many times, it has bounced off this level after strong sell-offs like we saw yesterday. One example would be the 1.29% sell-off on 27 Nov 2006. In the same way, it took the Dow back down to its 30 days MA and then bounced off nicely to new highs. We have yet to see a breach in the 30 days MA and a testing of the 50 days MA yet, but if it happens, it might be a prelude to something less pleasant. For the Nasdaq Composite, we are back where we started last week… if the 50 days MA fails, we should see a testing of the 2400 level, failing which, the Nasdaq Composite would go into a bear trend like the one we saw in May 2006 when it failed its 2300 support level. Yesterday’s action took both indices back down from an uptrend classification to a neutral trend classification. Traders need to be wary. It seems like January has always been a rather turbulent month over the past few years and yesterday’s market action took me totally by surprise. Again, the adage goes “The market has a mind of its own”… it does not necessarily follow the expectations of mere mortals.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 25th, 2007
FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
The Techs has been in a slumber whole winter with lacklustre performance and earnings expectations, however, with Yahoo and Sun Microsystems inc. released favorable earnings report, investor confidence in the techs returned and lifted the markets broadly as a result. Ebay also rallied 4.85% in a day, Xilinx up 4.32%, Intel up 1.41%, Marvell Tech up 5.45%, Broadcom corp up 4.18% and Microsoft up 1.14%. It was as though the flood gates are suddenly opened and a rush of optimism flooded the markets. Even the “Sell-The-Tech” Cramer with his pessimism about the Tech sector, gave 2 tech picks today. There are no new economic data to support this sudden optimism and oil was up another $0.33 on unfavorable oil inventory numbers, so it seems like investors are indeed waiting for some great earnings release from the tech front before committing to the markets.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Well well, just when we are about to lose hope in the Nasdaq composite, it rebounded off its 50 days moving average support level at last! This move alone totally negated the short term ditch that we have witnessed last week and, as I have said a few days ago, a rebound off this level could mean more upside to come. But didn’t the index close marginally below the 50 days MA twice? Well, that is a common behavior of all support levels. Prices don’t just rebound right off a support level, although sometimes they do. Most of the time, prices go slightly below it, bobbing up and down the surface very slightly before bouncing off. When we see such a slight breaching of a support level, we need to see a follow up on that breach the next day and then identify the next support level instead of falling into a panic. As it turned out, there was no follow up on the breach in this case and the Nasdaq composite rebounded nicely after accumulating some potential energy. The Dow continued to move according to plan, making yet another historical high, with no surprises at all. The Dow continues to be in a bull trend while the Nasdaq composite needs to break the 2500 to return to a bull trend from the current neutral channel. There is an obvious channel formed between the 2500 and 2450 level right now.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 24th, 2007
Recently, there has been invitations for me to guest speak at various events but organisers simply could not find my media kit and have to email me for all sorts of information regarding my expertise and things like that. I then realised that nobody in my capacity can go without a media kit and so we worked on it and hereby proudly presents… The Founder’s Profile & Media Kit !
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 24th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Winter is here at last, raising oil prices as heating oil demand is expected to rise. Oil price picked up by $1.20 to close up at $53.78 and has clearly added pressure on the market despite a rush of great earnings release by giants like Yahoo and UTX. If oil inventory numbers come in unfavorable tomorrow, oil could stage a rebound and rally as this ditch in oil price has been caused by a severe drop in heating oil demand so far due to a warm winter. Oil inventories will be announced tomorrow at 10:30am EST. As we have witnessed today, rising oil prices had a definite effect on investor sentiments as major indices fell from the skies as oil prices rose in the afternoon. We will be watching oil prices very closely.
TECHNICALS
Markets are mixed today as oil staged a come back. The Dow was not affected as it moved on to completing yet another step in its staircase formation. Nothing that happened to the Nasdaq composite seems to have affected the Dow in any ways and from its chart action today, we should see a new high coming up either late this week or early next week. The Nasdaq composite closed sideways yet again after struggling aainst a 2450 psychological resistance level for half a day. This is the second day the index has closed marginally below its 50 days moving average as downside momentum indicators continue to look strong. As I have said before, if it fails at this level, it would not be surprising to see a testing of the 2400 support level soon. Breaching that level would qualify the Nasdaq composite for a bear trend. So, make sure your tech longs are already out and have your tech put options ready. Oil seems to be waking up right now as it forms a rounded bottom formation off its $50 support level. A full scale rebound off such a formation is not common as this kind of formation do not show a strong conviction to upside. It usually laspe into a cup and handle formation before rallying, that is, if it survives long enough to form the handle part of the formation. Overall, oil is still in a full scale bear trend with a short term pullup being witnessed right now, until we see more evidence of a rally, oil remains bearish.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 23rd, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Stocks avalanched downhills as it seems more and more certain that Q2 earnings will not meet expectations. The Techs continued their way down across the board with giants like Microsoft (- $0.39)and Apple (-$1.71) leading the way. The Dow followed the trend at last with industrials leading the way down with giants like Boeing (-$3.09) and Caterpillar (-$1.16). Internals are clear as decliners lead advancers by 2 to 1. It seems like the markets is hit by a sudden wave of negativity after one weekend with little fundamental reasons.
TECHNICALS
Even though yesterday’s market action was well within our predictions again, the intensity of it still shocked us. The Dow completed another level of its staircase formation as it corrects down to its 30 days moving average as we have predicted a few days ago. Volume was typical of such a move and do not show any signs of abnormality. We have seen similar moves in the Dow throughout this rally on 5 Jan 07, 22 Dec 06, 27 Nov 06 and 9 Aug 06. All displayed similar characteristics and volume profile. This move has helped the Dow get off its short term overbought condition and should pave the way for further upside. Nasdaq opened up as expected but immediately collasped back down to close sideways on its 30 days moving average once again. The Nasdaq composite’s short term stochastics is almost at the oversold region and that could allow the index to go higher if it rebounds off this level or its psychological support level at 2400. This week continues to be an important week for the Nasdaq composite. Oil has found a support level at $52 and has started to trade sideways. Such a slight pullback is completely expected but it also seems to be putting some pressure on the markets. This week’s oil inventory numbers should be an important determinant on the next direction for oil.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 22nd, 2007
Last week has been a bullish continuation for the Dow but a terrible week for the Nasdaq Composite as it corrected back down to its 50 days moving average support level on lacklustre Q2 earnings performance outlook by tech giants. Oil also staged a slight rebound late last week as it landed on a strong $50 support level.
This week is going to be a very critical one for the Nasdaq Composite. If it drop below its 50 days moving average, it could go all the way down to test the 2400 level and failing which, it could laspe into a full scale bear trend. With people like Cramer shouting “SELL THE TECHS” everyday, its little wonder why everyone is panicking despite good Q1 earnings.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 20th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Oil rallied almost $2 in a day closing up $51.99 yesterday. That gave the Tech sector a slight boost as the Nasdaq Composite closed up slightly by 0.33%. The Dow continue to display slight weakness, which was expectedly in our technical analysis, with the lacklustre earning seasons so far and closed down marginally by 0.02%. So far, this has been a week that surprised many investors. While most investors expect bullishness to prevail as Q1 earnings are expected to be strong, the reverse happened. The markets always have its way of teaching us not to be over confident. Next week shall be another week of high level of uncertainty. With the mixed sentiments created by the earnings seasons so far, this is the time investors turn to more technical analysis for guidance.
TECHNICALS
Hardly surprising move in the markets as both the Nasdaq composite and the Dow played out EXACTLY as we have expected them to. The Dow continued to close sideways in order to form its staircase formation with no surprise and the Nasdaq composite rebounded off its 50 days moving average as we have predicted it to. The 50 days moving average once again proved itself to be a strong support level as investors rallied about that point to give support to the index. The Nasdaq composite has once again formed a bullish harami candlestick formation comprising of one big down day and one small up day near the bottom of the down candle. This is an extremely bullish formation which has helped the index stage numerous turnabouts. I suspect that the Nasdaq composite would go into a new neutral channel bordered by its 50 days moving average and the 2500 level. The Dow’s chart pattern continues to be very healthy and is not even surprising should it test the 12500 level soon before moving up to greater heights. This will certainly help it wear off some short term overbought sentiments.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 19th, 2007
So far, only our Star Trading System students and traders know what that is about, leaving the rest of the world confused. Therefore, I have added at last a small question mark button that launches a small popup window explaining how the meter works and what it does when clicked on.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 19th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Tech giants continued to disappoint across the board no matte how their earnings turned in, resulting in a 1.5% drop in the Nasdaq composite in a single day, the greatest single day drop in 2 months! Cramer continues to call a sell on the tech sector as giants like IBM (-0.57%), Apple (-6.19%), CISCO (-1.96%), Qlogic (-0.78%), INTC (-1.85%), NVDA (-8.28%) all collasped no matter how well their earnings turned in. Surprisingly, there seems to be no real reason for this huge correction in the tech sector except for the loud calls to sell by analysts. It sure seems like only the tech sector is hit this time round as the Dow didn’t look like it is affected in anyways as it closed marginally lower by 0.07%. Oil continued to drop as we have expected yesterday after a slight bargain hunting. Overall, the tech sector seems to be hit by a strong tsunami of pessimism and traders should be careful to enforce stop losses.
TECHNICALS
The Nasdaq composite corrected sharply back down below its 2450 resistance level and onto its 50 days moving average support level once again. It did so on extremely heavy volume, with all short term momentum indicators showing strong downside momentum building up. The testing of the 50 days moving average is extremely critical at this point. If the 50 days moving average fails to hold up today, we should be seeing a testing of the bottom of its previous neutral channel at the 2400 level next. Overall, all indicators points downside for Nasdaq and traders should exit tech longs by now. The Dow on the other hand looks extremely healthy as it closed sideways, forming yet another step in its staircase formation as we have expected. It is not even strange to see the Dow pullback down slightly for a day from this point before rebounding to new heights. The oil chart is an unmistakable down down down, so, oil traders should have cleared all long positions by now. http://www.mastersoequity.com/option_trader_hq.php”>Free Weekly Stock Market Calendar Here!
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 18th, 2007
I took our IT department and incorporated it into a subsidiary company called Masters ‘O’ Equity Webdesign & Mgmt inc. to be based in China. This will not only allow our websites to be more professionally managed, it willalso enable us to share our online success secrets with the rest of the world. More information will come…. stay tuned.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 18th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets were down yesterday as the earnings season continues to disappoint investors across the board, especially in the Tech sector. December PPI numbers released yesterday also showed a slight rise and along with a small rally in oil price, it is certainly not surprising to see more investors taking profits off the table. There is a saying in the chinese market for a phenomenal like this called, “Shaking The Board” and is a way of driving uncommitted investors off the markets before the rally continues for those determined enough to stay with it. Well, that’s from a market that’s still in its infancy anyways. Does this mean that we have just experienced a false rally? I don’t think so. A slightly pull up in oil price and a slight rise in the volatile PPI is hardly surprising. We definitely need to see more convincing evidence than these. Apple released Q1 earnings yesterday, beating estimates by a mile, however, AAPL fell on a Q2 outlook that failed estimates, sparking a small sell off to close down by 2.21%. Apple, however, continues to be Cramer’s no.2 tech choice of the year and I personally see AAPL going further on the mid term as long as the lawsuit against CISCO doesn’t come in the way too much.
TECHNICALS
The Dow closed sideways yesterday as Nasdaq closed down significantly. As I have mentioned in yesterday’s comments, I suspected that the Dow should be forming yet another step in its staircase formation within these couple of days and yes, we saw it begin yesterday as it closed marginally lower. I see a testing of the 12500 level before rising yet to another high. Upside momentum continue to be strong in the Dow and with its strong 30 days moving average support level rising along steadily, there is again no reason to say that this rally is over, yet. Nasdaq closed down by 0.74% yesterday, showing a definite lost of short term upside momentum in our indicators and a sharp turn down from a short term overbought position. This could be a slight pull back before going any higher as mid term indicators continue to point strongly to more upside. We saw the same behavior back in 17 October 2006 where after another 15 days of going sideways, Nasdaq staged a rally. Nasdaq seems to hit a psychological resistance level every 50 points or so and 2480 seems like one of these. Unlike Cramer, I would still say that the Tech is still a buy until we see definite evidence of the end of its rally. Oil staged a small rally yesterday but not without making a new intraday low. This showed that bearishness still persists in oil and that it is most likely a false rally.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 17th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Oil plunges further into the ditch to close at $51.40 putting severe pressure on the Energy sector as markets closed mixed. Surprisingly, OPEC still look like they don’t care at all and stated that there are no need to cut production further in order to support crude oil prices. They are probably looking at the current high oil inventory level due to the warm winter as a temporary situation. Nasdaq was further hit by a lacklustre earning season and caused some investors to take some quick profits off the table. Giants like CISCO, KLA-Tenor and NOVELLUS were downgraded yesterday on valuation concerns. Even though there are some profit taking yesterday, the internals still tell us that the bull trend is still intact as advancers par decliners even on a day like this. Apple will release Q1 earnings tomorrow and will definitely be something to watch.
TECHNICALS
Markets closed mixed yesterday as the Dow continued its uptrend and Nasdaq closed marginally lower, sideways, I would say. The Dow made yet another historical high yesterday and sure looks like it should be forming another step of its staircase formation within these few days. Nasdaq closed sideways but still made a higher high which preserves its bullishness. Nasdaq is in a short term overbought position and is not strange at all to see some form of slight pullback. Such a pullback is extremely healthy as long as Nasdaq closes up tomorrow. All in all, the bull trend has just started and with upside momentum still strong, there are no signs nor reasons yet to think that the rally is over. I would see the next resistance level for Nasdaq at the 2710 level.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 16th, 2007
In order for Masters ‘O’ Equity to get up to the next level, we must tap into and maximise one of our biggest resource, which is our affiliates. I have noticed that only a couple of affiliates are consistently making sales while most are not. Most of them are not even getting hits and some of them getting a lot of hits but no sales. All these goes to show that I must train my affiliates in the right way to conduct affiliate marketing. That is why I started a page where we can all share marketing tips and things like that in a page called Affiliate Training Base . I also composed and posted a tip on how to mask one’s affiliate URL in order to encourage clickthroughs. I hope to see more affiliates sharing their knowledge there.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 16th, 2007
Bullishness spreads across global markets yesterday when US Markets were closed for Martin Luther King day. In many ways, this is also a sign that expectations are for the US Markets to continue its bullishness as it has been known for decades that many asian markets like the Singapore markets rise and fall according to the expectations in the US Markets. Let’s see what happens today when market opens.
Last week was an important week for the markets technically as it was a week where all major indices made committed breaks to upside and out of their neutral channels. With short term market momentum turning to upside, we can expect the bullishness to rage on through the week this week.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 13th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets continue to storm ahead yesterday with the Dow making yet another historical high and the Nasdaq composite making a new 6 years high! Slight profit taking was witnessed early in the first trading hour, leaving profit takers deep in regret as the markets rallied for the rest of the day.
Great December retail sales due to the holiday seasons (the biggest gain since July 2006) added fuel to the optimism that are already in the markets. The numbers showed that consumers are still able and willing to spend money and that is a sign of a healthy economy. Oil also showed more weakness as it fell to a low of $52 intraday with OPEC announcing that they will not be convening an emergency meeting as yet.
With the bull already out of the gates, retail sales up, oil price down and no signs of any action to lift oil prices, we can only imagine how far this bull can go.
Apple drops for a second consecutive day as a barrage of negative news pertaining to CEO Steve Job hit the markets. Well, that’s probably why the Chinese Proverb says, “When the tree grows big, it catches more wind”. Nothing yet about its lawsuit with CISCO. The big event for AAPL is its earnings release next Wednesday. We will be staying tuned.
TECHNICALS
Markets closed higher again yesterday with definite signs of a developing bull trend.
The Dow resumed its staircase like formation of moving up, retreating a little and moving up. This is definitely another moving up phase supported agin by its 30 days simple moving average. Back at 9, 10 and 11 Jan 2007, we saw a nice bounce off its 30 days simple moving average as well as another instance back at 27 Nov 2006 to 4 Dec 2006. This shows yet again that as long as the 30 days simple moving average holds, the Dow will continue to move up. With momentum indicators showing an increased momentum to upside and short term stochastics still a little distance from being overbought, it is safe to say that the Dow wil continue its bullishness next week.
The Nasdaq Composite completed its neutral channel break on 11 Jan 07 and followed up with another strong up day yesterday. Yesterday’s move completed a classic channel break with strong volume, definitely an unmistakable bull sign. With momentum indicators increasing to upside and short term stochastics slightly in the overbought region, the Nasdaq composite still looks bullish. The Nasdaq Composite also formed a “Shaven Head” candlestick signal, which means that it closed right at the high of the day. This is an extremely bullish candlestick signal that signals that the next trading day is most likely going to be bullish too. Nasdaq’s near 2 months neutral trend also showed us that its 30 and 50 days simple moving average are like the 2 security gates in a high security facility. Even if it breaks the first security gate (30 day simple moving average), the second security gate (50 days simple moving average) will stop its decline dead in its tracks and bounce it right back up.
Overall, the all major indices are bullish right now and it a good time to put on some longs or to go long on the indices.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 12th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Crude oil price continued to drop yesterday by more than $1! The Dow closed a new historical high as bullishness returns. Crude oil has been dropping by about $1 every day since 3 Jan and gave the markets a new lease of life and a strong reason to be optimistic about. To augment this optimism, weekly jobless claim also fell larger than expected, indicating a growing economy. Earning releases yesterday were also surprisingly good. Good news seems to be flooding the markets right now and is a sure sign that the bull is back and the bear is out of the window. Cisco & Apple continues their court room drama as Cisco demands Apple to pay Cisco’s legal fees and relinquish all profits eventually made on the iPhone. Cisco also demands Apple destroy all labels, signs, packaging and other promotional material that includes the word “iPhone,” a product it cost Apple millions to develop. Apple closed down 1.24% yesterday. I will be following this closely.
TECHNICALS
The bulls has definitely returned as all major indices broke their resistance levels to close new highs. Undoubtedly, this rally is still the result of a dropping oil price. Since July 2006, the market has moved in the exact inverse of oil price; Market rallied when oil price dropped starting from 17 July 2006. Then went into a neutral trend when oil stalemated for a month from 4 Dec 2006, finally, spurring the market into a new bull trend with its recent decline from 4 Jan 2007. So, I am comfortable to say that as long as oil continues to drop, this rally would have more upside to go. The Dow is showing a lot of potential to upside as it curls up from a short term oversold position. Nasdaq followed up on the resistance level break yesterday and closed up significantly higher. The sky is the limit now for both indices and I will be monitoring their upwards momentum daily for any indications of weakness.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 11th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Oil prices closed below $55 for the first time since June 2005! At the time of this writing, it is trading at only $53.60! This gave lift to a market that is thirsty for some kind of optimism. Looking at the internals, however, showed that advancers still par decliners across the board with no clear leadership. AAPL was up more than 13% in 2 days due to the successful launch of its iPhone and that gave the Nasdaq composite a more significant rise against the Dow. AAPL will once again be the focus this season as CISCO sued Apple over the use of the brand “iPhone” as that is a trademark owned by CISCO. If CISCO wins this lawsuit, it could put some short term pressure on AAPL. I will be following this story closely. Overall, as long as oil price continues to move down, capital costs and cost of living will too and that will definitely help the stock markets.
TECHNICALS
Markets continued to move sideways with major indices closing higher. The Dow’s gain was marginal at best and continued to reinforce its neutral trend. Nasdaq Composite however, broke the 2450 resistance level after half a day in the trenches. This is an extremely bullish move on high volume. Does this mean that Nasdaq is ready to end its neutral trend to go back into a bullish trend? Maybe, but not yet. We need to see a follow up today which hopefully 2470 to be sure. The markets has always surprised us with a complete, catastrophic reversal just when we are too sure. That is why we always look for clear follow up to a one or two day formation before coming to a conclusion. Looking back at 18 April 2006, we saw a single day 1.95% rise in the Nasdaq composite, however, after failing to break the 7 April high, it collasped into a catastrophic decline. That is what we want to be sure to avoid. In this neutral trend so far, we see strong support from the 30 and 50 days moving average from both the Dow and Nasdaq and that gave them a strong bullish undercurrent. A break below the 50 days moving average will sink them into a bear trend immediately, so that is a level all short term traders want to watch and that is a level index players probably want to set stop loss at.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 10th, 2007
I have always wanted a page where I have all the information that an option trader needed on a single page instead of having to open so many pages in order to get all the information that I wanted. With the Option Trader HQ , I hope to satisfy this need and to continuously improve on it so that one day, it can become a page where all option traders must visit on a daily basis.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 10th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Yesterday’s earnings seasons kicked off with a lacklustre Alcoa Q4 earnings release along with worries that the rest of the earnings may also be less optimistic. This left the markets mixed whole day even though oil prices continue to make encouraging drops to new 18 months low and Apple gaining over 7% in one day. Advancers and Decliners are almost evenly matched yesterday showing a cautious and mixed sentiment in the markets. The property sector is still a concern as rising mortgage rates and a dropping property price means that real estate investors are having a very hard time. When real estate investors do not make money, their money do not come into the markets and that means a lot of money off the table.
TECHNICALS
Markets closed sideways once again yesterday with the Dow in the red. The Nasdaq composite, however, continues to be led higher as the QQQQ continues to lead the way. The QQQQ told us that investors are bullish on the Nasdaq composite as it was in positive territory the bulk of the time that the Nasdaq composite was negative. Both the Dow and NASDAQ formed long tailed dojis which tells us again that uncertainty prevails in the markets and that the market can still go anywhere. The Nasdaq Composite continued to fail at the 2450 resistance level while the Dow seems to be comfortably settling into its neutral trend. No technical indications seems to hint at where the market will go next from this neutral trend and short term traders should continue to stay out of the markets. Everything An Option Trader Needs In A Day On ONE PAGE!
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Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 10th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Yesterday’s earnings seasons kicked off with a lacklustre Alcoa Q4 earnings release along with worries that the rest of the earnings may also be less optimistic. This left the markets mixed whole day even though oil prices continue to make encouraging drops to new 18 months low and Apple gaining over 7% in one day. Advancers and Decliners are almost evenly matched yesterday showing a cautious and mixed sentiment in the markets. The property sector is still a concern as rising mortgage rates and a dropping property price means that real estate investors are having a very hard time. When real estate investors do not make money, their money do not come into the markets and that means a lot of money off the table.
TECHNICALS
Markets closed sideways once again yesterday with the Dow in the red. The Nasdaq composite, however, continues to be led higher as the QQQQ continues to lead the way. The QQQQ told us that investors are bullish on the Nasdaq composite as it was in positive territory the bulk of the time that the Nasdaq composite was negative. Both the Dow and NASDAQ formed long tailed dojis which tells us again that uncertainty prevails in the markets and that the market can still go anywhere. The Nasdaq Composite continued to fail at the 2450 resistance level while the Dow seems to be comfortably settling into its neutral trend. No technical indications seems to hint at where the market will go next from this neutral trend and short term traders should continue to stay out of the markets. Everything An Option Trader Needs In A Day On ONE PAGE!
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Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 9th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets closed marginally higher yesterday on cautiousness surrounging the coming earnings season. Earning seasons officially starts today and nobody really knows what to expect. The market could definitely benefit from a good earnings season but a cooller than expected earnings season could be the catalyst needed to put the market down into a bear trend from its current shaky position high up on the fence. On the brighter side of things, the Feds remarked that the housing sector is coming to a soft landing with limited ill effects and that inflation seems to be easing. This means that whatever has been done to rescue the economy continues to show up positively. Only one question remains, when will the Feds cut interest rates?
TECHNICALS
Markets closed sideways yesterday. Such marginal gains are not to be considered a gain in context of a technical chart pattern. The Dow continues to form a lower low and a lower high for a 3rd straight day, making this sideways close a slightly bearish one. The Dow has also been trading right on top of its 30 days moving average and that has proved to be an important support level for the Dow throughout this rally. As long as this level is not breached, the Dow will continue to be in a short term neutral trend supported by a long term up trend, which still makes it a bullish market. The Nasdaq Composite formed another spinning top candlestick formation yesterday. Such a formation shouts one word, “Uncertainty”. The bulls and bears each won half of the day, eventually to close almost where it started in a tie. Another concern here is that short term momentum indicators has almost moved the whole length up for the Nasdaq composite so far but we have not yet seen a significant move upwards in the index. This shows that there is a strong resistance level here wearing out the buying momentum. Indeed, as we can see, the Nasdaq composite has been failing at the 2450 level over the past few days. Overall, this is still a very mixed market with plenty of indications to support both a bullish and bearish outlook. Traders are advised to continue to be cautious at this point.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 8th, 2007
Cash-challenged seniors who want to stay in their own homes have kept reverse mortgages high on the public radar. But not everyone thinks they’re such a good idea.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 8th, 2007
This is the beginning of a brand new week in the markets once again. Always feels good to be back in the action.
Last week has been a lacklustre week in the markets. The show of strong bullishness that all traders hoped for did not happen and was replaced by a strong display of profit taking. The Fed continued to hint at not cutting interest rates soon, housing price looked like it has yet to find a bottom and all major indices lasped into a neutral trend from a bull trend.
This week will continue to be a week of important releases like the Trade Deficit, oil inventory and Wholesale inventories numbers on Wednesday, jobless claim on Thursday and retail sales on Friday. These numbers will continue to answer bits and pieces of the question of, “Is the US economy slowing down into a recession or Is the US economy still under inflationary pressure?” and continue to leave traders of different beliefs to walk their beliefs in the markets. This is the exactly where the alluring beauty of the US stock markets lies.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 6th, 2007
Hopes Of Fed Rate Cut Diminishes As Jobs Grow. Stocks Down!
FUNDAMENTALS
Stocks took a hit across the board as hopes of a Fed rate cut continue to diminish further into the horizon. Investors were expecting the Fed to cut rates no later than March but all the clues along the way going into January continue to hint towards not cutting rates. Unemployment rate was held steady at a low 4.5 percent as payroll was increased by 167,000 and hourly wages increased by 0.5 percent in December. These numbers paints the picture of a growing economy but it sure tells the Feds that further rate cuts are unnecessary. Motorola also took a plunge yesterday after they cut 4Q outlook. Shares of Motorola closed down a huge 7.83% in a single day following numerous downgrades after the outlook release. Overall, this rally looked extremely worn out and sensitive to every single hint of possible bad news.
TECHNICALS
Markets betrayed the one day rally of 2 days ago and almost completely erased those gains in a single day yesterday. Overall, the Nasdaq composite failed to follow up with another up day yesterday and continued its neutral trend. The Dow is also officially into a short term neutral trend now as it showed no signs of forming another step in its staircase formation. Volume these 3 days have been higher than average but has failed to lift the markets. That goes to show that this is a point where many traders are beginning to bid down instead of up, forming a growing selling sentiment. In a healthy bull trend, we should see the market rally, then go into a correction by pulling back into a sharp, short term decline and then up again to new highs. This kind of chart pattern shows that even though there is a strong short term profit taking (probably by institutes causing a quick decline.), the “herd” is bullish enough to bring the market back up and then into new heights. What we are seeing here is a very unhealthy chart pattern which goes up and then laspe into a significant neutral trend. What usually follows after such a neutral trend is the markets turning down into a bear trend forming what we call a “flat top” or “tower” formation. This kind of formation shows that the “herd” is losing bullishness, bring the rally to a slow standstill and into a neutral trend. When the “herd” loses bullishness, the sentiment goes around very quickly and soon bearishness begin to set in. In the US Markets, the “Herd” is still the main moving force unlike in lesser developed markets where a few institutes form the main moving force. The only consolation so far is that major indices are still trading above their 50 day moving averages, this shows that markets are still in a long term uptrend even though they are now in a short term neutral trend. The Nasdaq Composite is in fact literally trading right on the 50 days moving average line right now. We will be watching the 50 days moving average intently from this point forward as a breach of this level will position the markets into a long term neutral trend and a possible test of the 100 days moving average.
FUNDAMENTALS
Crude oil prices collasped further into the ditch as it closed below $56 yesterday! That spurred the tech sector up significantly as cheaper crude oil means cheaper capital cost. The Dow, on the other hand, was up marginally as it comes under pressure from falling share prices of oil giants like Exxon. This is a market that will readily respond to every bit of positive news like a thristy desert traveller will readily drink every drop of water in an oasis, however, the bigger picture still tells a different story… with the economy slowing down faster than expected and the housing sector uncertain of a soft landing, this is still a very dangerous place to be in. You are still in a desert even though you are standing beside an oasis.
TECHNICALS
Crude oil is once again in a full blown down trend. After spending about 3 months in neutral trend, crude oil has decided to move lower and has helped the market move up significantly. This rally has been the direct inverse of crude oil price so far since August 2006 and should continue to show promise as crude oil price move further down. The Dow closed sideways as it continue to trade in a tight range in a fashion that almost qualifies as a neutral trend. Yesterday’s surge also brought the NASDAQ composite back up into its neutral channel. So, to summarise, yesterday’s surge has resulted in the Dow and NASDAQ going into a neutral trend with slight bearish inclination. This kind of market can still go anywhere.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 4th, 2007
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets disappointed traders in the Bull camp yesterday as what was building up to become a great way to start 2007, collasped mid day after the Feds raised concerns over the severity of the pullback in the housing sector. In fact, the Dow went from a high of 12580.03 to a low of 12405.14, a huge 174.89 points chasm in between! We usually see this kind of points difference on very pessimistic, negative days. Even though the Dow rebounded slightly to close 11 points up by the end of the day, it does not change the fact that a great amount of pessimism exist yesterday, the first trading day of 2007. All these while, the Feds has continuously fed (no pun intended.) investors with small doses of negative sentiments almost on a daily basis over housing and inflation concerns. It is almost like they are trying to prepare investors for “what is to come”. Is the “soft landing” in the housing sector only an illusion? Is a coming recession cleverly disguised as trying to bring inflation down so as to prevent an all out panic? Only time will tell. Tis the season to be cautious…
TECHNICALS
Markets closed sideways yesterday, forming a huge spinning top candlestick formation. Such a formation indicates a strong sense of uncertainty, especially one with such long top and bottom wicks. Such a formation is more common in the Dow but is not something common in the NASDAQ composite index. This sense of uncertainty means that the markets can still go anywhere from this point forward with a slight bearish inclination. Crude Oil broke below its neutral $60 channel yesterday and is looking to trade lower.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 3rd, 2007
Yes, the overall look and presentation of the page has been improved in order to help beginners understand and “get into the scene” quickly and easily.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 3rd, 2007
A report by the General Accounting Office concludes that current patent law discourages drug companies from developing new drugs by allowing them to make excessive profits through minor changes to existing pharmaceuticals. Pharma R&D spending has increased 147% since ‘93, but applications for “new molecular entity” drugs, have only increased 7%
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 3rd, 2007
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday overcame a seven-month deadlock and approved AT&T’s $85 billion purchase of BellSouth, creating a new corporate giant that will stand astride the telecommunications industry like none other in the generation since the old AT&T empire was broken up in 1984.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 3rd, 2007
The euro was introduced five years ago to provide economic cohesion among EU nations. But euros also are in circulation in dozens of countries and overseas territories ranging from the North Atlantic to the Pacific.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the January 2nd, 2007
HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2007 EVERYONE!
2006 has come to an end and with a surprise market close on Tuesday, all traders can enjoy a 4 days market holiday and party into 2007.
2006 has been the year that all equity traders has been waiting for for years. After almost 6 sideways years, the Dow and Nasdaq broke to upside in 2006 to close up by 15.44% and 8.36% respectively. The main mover for the year of 2006 has definitely been the continued interest rate pause by the Feds and the crude oil correction. These 2 factors, along with measures to bring about a soft landing in housing prices, led to a full scale rally since August 2006.
2006 hasn’t been a year of all ups and no downs. May 2006 has been a pretty scary month as the markets went into a slight correction on uncertain geopolitical situation. That correction continued into the surprising rally in August. Well, that is how the market tend to behave over the past hundreds of years; Against All Expectations. When you think it is thinking one way, it suddenly behaves in another.
2006 has also been a year that challenged the US Economy; Challenging crude oil situation, widening national debt, widening trade deficit, uncertainty in the middle east… etc. Through it all, investors all over the world continued to believe in the future of the US markets, which showed up in the August rally.
2007 to 2008 will be very important years for the US markets. The first of the baby boomers will start to withdraw their 104K from their funds, thus the equity markets, from the end of 2007 and going into full scale from 2008 onwards. These money pooled by the most significant post war population formed an important source of liquidity for the US markets. We can all imagine what will happen when such a full scale withdrawal happens. I do not think the SEC and the Fed will allow something so powerful to happen all at once. Let’s see what new policies will come onto the table in 2007 pertaining to this issue.
When the markets open on Wednesday, there is a high chance that we should see a change in sentiment in the US markets. Over the past 10 years, there were 5 years where the Dow ended higher on December. 3 out of that 5 years see a drop on the following January and 1 out of that 5 years see a small gain on January and then going into slight correction. With the Dow and Nasdaq composite showing signs of fatigue towards the end of December 2006, it does seem like a pretty uncertain opening for the markets on Wednesday. Even though the short term outlook may be pretty uncertain at this point, the long term outlook looks a lot more promise. With the Dow bouncing from the correction on 2003, it has been moving up and up for the last 4 years. As the saying goes, “The Trend Is Your Friend”, it certainly makes no sense to say that the locomotive will suddenly scratch to a stop this year. Nasdaq is also making the great climb up the Himalayans in order to recover from the 2000 Tech crash. With still no bubbling evident in the tech sector, the rally since 2003 is a healthy one and one which should be expected to continue.
With interest rates and oil prices remaining stable, we should see another 3.5 to 4% growth in the US economy in 2007 and even though a great economy is no promise of a great stock market, a sour economy is certainly promise for a sour stock market.
So, our wish list for the year 2007 would be:
1. To see policies made and executed to prevent the baby boomer crash.
2. To see policies made and executed to reduce trade deficit and national debt.
3. To see oil prices remain stable. (to see it falling further is a little wishful with OPEC right on its heels)
4. To see the housing market come to a soft landing.
5. To see confidence coming back into the equity markets from the bond markets.
6. To see an interest rate cut right about March 2007.
7. To see the US dollar come to a support level where the US economy can remain competitive against a rising China.
8. To see less turbulence in the middle east.
9. To see worldwide terrorist network broken down.
10. To see more mergers between strong US corporations with foreign corporations.
If my wishes can come true, then I am confident that our long term portfolio should remain long.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 29th, 2006
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets closed marginally lower yesterday even though investors were treated to a barrage of positive news releases. With consumer confidence and Chicago PMI checking in stronger than before, investors in the Inflation Fear camp started to worry that the Fed will not be cutting interest rates anytime soon. Volume in the markets continue to be very thin as most investors choose to sit on the sidelines, enjoy the holidays, before coming back next year to see if there is any change in market sentiments.
TECHNICALS
Markets continued to move sideways yesterday on a very thinly traded market. The NASDAQ composite continues to display more bearishness as the QQQQ continues to lead the composite index to downside. When the NASDAQ composite rose 0.73% the day before, QQQQ rose a mere 0.51% but when the NASDAQ composite fell 0.23% yesterday, QQQQ fell by 0.48%. The QQQQ is a good sentiment indicator of the NASDAQ composite because it is traded by more small and medium investors that formed the majority of the pool of investors. The resultant move in the QQQQ can therefore be interpreted as the collective sentiment of small and medium investors toward the NASDAQ composite. Investors should cover shorts on technical stocks by now.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 26th, 2006
I redesigned and uploaded the new page headers today. The old page headers are simply words highlighted in yellow, making the site look very unprofessional. The new page headers are white headers enclosed in red bars, both in harmony with the site’s theme color and is also more professionally formatted.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 26th, 2006
FUNDAMENTALS
Today marks the start of the traditional “Santa Claus Rally”. There is a better than 2 to 1 chance over the last 50 years that the Dow rise on Christmas week. This is usually led by the retail sector as post-christmas sales take center stage. This year, will Santa Claus beat recessionary fears? One census showed that only about 24% of investors are confident of a Santa Claus Rally this year. With bonds at skyhigh levels and a ton of weak economic news, a recession does seem to be just round the corner. Let’s see if the ton of new releases this week can create a change in sentiments. In my opinion, investors are once again divided into 2 camps… the Inflation Fear camp and the Recession Fear camp. Traders in the Inflation fear camp interprets all strong economic numbers as inflationary pressure while traders in the Recession fear camp will interpret the same numbers as an economy that is still growing and alive. Until the market sentiments flow in one direction, markets might be moved in the direction of the stronger camp.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 23rd, 2006
Our Footers, which used to be manually updated for all 69 pages are now javascript based at last! Never thought that it will be easy to manage contents over so many pages. Ought to have looked into these areas years ago when I started this page.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 22nd, 2006
Yes, surprisingly, I used to manually update our dates every month. I never realised that such a date display function can be so simply automated using javascript. I am now beginning to think that our programmer leaving the team is becoming a good thing. Without which, I would never have learnt so many advanced webpage techniques.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 22nd, 2006
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets took a turn to downside yesterday on concerns over a slowing economy and the energy sector turning down along with falling oil prices. The problems in the US economy is not a simple one and one that will eventually show up in the stock markets. With very little positive developments in the economy and mounting pressure from a rising China, US is quickly losing its global competitiveness. This showed up as a 5.8 points decline in the business index for December at a negative 4.3 versus a positive 5.1 in November. With a national debt that is 4 times national GDP, there is no way debts can be repaid with the baby boomers retiring from 2008 onwards. Like a person deep in debt and forced to repay very soon, this giant’s financial picture is not an optimistic one.
TECHNICALS
Sadly, the “Black & White Brothers” failed to lift the NASDAQ Composite index. Ending the day in a 0.48% drop, all trend indicators are pointing to a short term bearish trend for the first time since the same indications showed up on 10 July 2006. We saw the same example of such a behavior in the indicators on 11 May 2006. The Dow is displaying a completely different sentiment, however, as it continues to form yet another plateau of its staircase formation with no indications of coming to a halt. Eventhough all major indices tend to move in the same direction under the same market undercurrent, there are times when they are different. On such time is the tech crash of 2000 – 2001. By 2002, however, the Dow yielded to the falling tech sector and fell in tandem for a year. Oil prices have lasped back into range trading within its neutral channel of $60 – $63 once again. Looks like it is going to stay neutral for a while here. FREE Option Trading Education!
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 21st, 2006
FUNDAMENTALS
The Dow closed down marginally on profit taking and FEDEX’s $2.15 drop. With almost no more news release or economic news, markets remain lacklustre. The Energy sector also failed to follow up on its rebound as Crude oil fell from its 3 weeks high to close at $63.19. A warmer winter is expected to cut demand for heating oil thereby relieving the pressure on oil inventory. At this point of time, many analysts are quick to agree that this is no longer a fundamental driven market.
TECHNICALS
Markets continued to move sideways yesterday as the Dow continues a series of doji like candles and the NASDAQ Composite forming a doji with a higher high and a higher low. The candlestick formation we see on NASDAQ today is very interesting. Even though it dropped 0.08% yesterday, it formed a formation I call the “Black & White Brothers”. It is a formation consisting of 2 candles (one open candle and the other a close candle) with relatively small candle bodies, lined up horizontally side by side. There are many names given to this kind of formation addressing the specific arrangement of these 2 candles, but the effects to be expected are the same. That is why I gave it a different name, encompassing all the variants. It doesn’t matter which candle comes first; The black candle can come before the white candle or the white candle before the black candle. This formation occurs commonly after a big down or a big up day and usually signals a reversal. We saw a similar formation in BBBY on 3 Nov 2006, lifting BBBY up by more than $2 after a $1.01 drop on 1 Nov. With the Black & White Brothers knocking in after NASDAQ’s 0.88% ditch 3 days ago, it may signal a rebound back up into its neutral channel. This is a very fast formation. If it should be accurate, we should see the action by today. Free Option Trading Books
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 20th, 2006
The Nav Bar in our pages has been changed from a gray background with black words scheme to a black background with white words scheme. This will enable the navbar to better integrate into the header as part of the header instead of being part of the content body.
Other minor changes have also been made with this revision:
1. All Nav Bars Standardised.
2. All footers standardised.
3. Privacy Policy improved in look and text.
In the very near future, a content management system will be created by me using my simple PHP, Javascript and Mysql knowledge to automate the update of all headers, footers and common content along with an admin interface. It is indeed amazing how much you can do yourself by reading up for a couple of days. Save the company thousands in dollars in salary per month.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 20th, 2006
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets closed mixed after spending most of the day deep under water. The early drop in oil prices caused an immediate ditching reaction in the sensitive energy sector bringing the markets down hard. However, as oil prices recovered later in the day to close up by another 1.5%, the energy sector rebounded, lifting the Dow to close up 0.24% for the day. It sure looks like crude oil price, whose ditch supported the recent rally, needs to remain strong in order to boost the energy sector and consequently, the market. PPI numbers will rise with rising oil prices and that could give rise to renewed inflationary fears. Crude oil closed $63.15 per barrel with Exxon Mobil up another 2.1% to close at $77.06. From the recent market actions, it now seems like the only sector left that could still move is the energy sector. The rest of the market seems almost powerless to give lift to the markets. However, if the energy sector continues to rise on rising oil price, the rest of the markets will very soon come to yield under rising inflationary pressure. Unless the markets see some new strength and reason for optimism across the board very soon, there could only be one direction left for it soon.
TECHNICALS
Markets closed sideways yesterday after a scary opening. NASDAQ is the focus of attention here today. NASDAQ has rallied on its 30 SMA steadily since August. Yesterday, the NASDAQ composite index broke below its 30 SMA line and its rising trendline for the first time since August. This is a trendline break on above average volume…. meaning, bad news. NASDAQ seemed to have missed out on the strength in the Dow so far and with the Dow also slowing down, the NASDAQ composite could win this tug of war to downside along with major indices soon. All short term trend indicators are showing a bearish trend developing on NASDAQ for the first time since the rally begun in August. The only consolation is that it managed to close somewhat at the 30SMA line by the end of the day. Today will be a critical day, if NASDAQ get back up today, it could negate yesterday’s action as a false ditch. If NASDAQ continues lower today, I will have to announce that we are at the beginning of the Bear trend for the NASDAQ composite index. Free Option Trading Education!
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 19th, 2006
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets suffered the first setback in 4 days as crude oil prices plummetted by more than a dollar within a day. The already weak and sensitive energy sector brought NASDAQ down by 0.88% as the Dow followed it down by a marginal 0.03%. Crude oil sent shares of Dow component ExxonMobil down $1.79, or 2.3 percent, to $75.51. Rival Chevron Corp. shed $2.05, or 2.7 percent, to $73.33. British Petroleum PLC declined $1.13 to $66.75. Other giants affected by the year end sell off are Google and Yahoo, both dropping by 3.65% and 2.23% respectively. All eyes continue to be on crude oil action with the complete lack of any major release anytime soon. It will certainly be of benefit to the market in the mid term should oil price remain constant within a $60 – $63 range.
TECHNICALS
A sideways day at the markets yesterday despite great drops in NASDAQ. The Dow closed a completely neutral day while NASDAQ fell back down into its sideways movement. NASDAQ has remained neutral since 27 Nov and still do not look like it’s mustering the strength needed to go further up. Unlike the Dow, NASDAQ has failed to complete its staircase formation and is now forming a flat top neutral trend. Such a neutral trend usually spells the end for a rally as it needs to make a new decision soon whether to go up or down or simply stay sideways like it did during the first 5 months of the year. The Dow continues to look strong and if it continues its bullishness, it can also help NASDAQ break to upside. Oil slipped back down into its neutral $60 – $63 channel yesterday surprisingly. Let’s see if it follows up today.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 18th, 2006
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets gained last Friday on favorable November CPI numbers. The CPI numbers continued to point towards a controlled inflation as both total and core CPI remains unchanged. The bullishness didn’t last throughout the trading day as a sudden surge in oil price put renewed pressure on the markets and brought the markets back down to closing near the day’s low. The ISM national survey of manufacturing conditions also ditched below 50 for the first time since 2003, showing a contraction in the manufacturing sector. Even though it does put pressure on the manufacturing sector, we all know that manufacturing cannot always be on the top of the list for a matured economy. I will be watching oil price very closely now as it is showing sure signs of recovery with the surge last Friday. The market’s bullishness so far will certainly end if oil should rally from here.
TECHNICALS
The Dow has regained it’s uptrend condition last Friday since it laspe into a short term neutral trend towards the end of November. NASDAQ continued to struggle with a neutral trend as it continues to go sideways. Well, this is an interesting juncture here as all major indices eventually affect each other. If one rallies strongly, it will lift the other indices too and if one ditches strongly, it will pull the others down too. So, we will have to see if NASDAQ follows the Dow back into an uptrend soon or have the Dow laspe back into a neutral trend along with it. Oil remains the focus of concern here as it breaks the $63 psychological resistance level last Friday to close at $63.40. Even though right now oil prices have retreated back down a little in asian trading, it is still holding well above $63. Short term stochastics on USO is showing a recovery from the oversold position indicating strong possibility of more upside to come. As we can see, the rally so far has been the result of an inverse movement against oil prices. If oil should take a turn around, the possibility will be high that the markets will also be affected. Best Option Trading Books!
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 16th, 2006
Mobile seems like the way to go for all services these days. In order to provide that same level of modern convenience that matches up to our status as a premium service provider in the information era, we are currently working on a mobile sms alert system that will alert our subscribers when there is a pick for the day. This will save our subscribers time from having to log in everyday to check for the pick of the day. Stay Tuned! In the meantime, you might also want to check out our Trader Psychometric Test Here!
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 15th, 2006
FUNDAMENTALS
Markets rallied yesterday led by the energy sector. The energy sector rose 1.81% overall with OPEC’s decision to cut production by another 500K barrels per day starting on 1 Feb. This has led oil to break above the $63 for the first time since November. If oil prices continue to move up due to a drop in production, that can spell higher capital cost for industries and put some pressure on earnings.
TECHNICALS
Surprisingly, the Dow found enough energy to break the 12340 resistance level yesterday as it ended up 0.81% for the day to close at 12416.76! This is an extremely important move as it completes the staircase formation that the Dow has been stepping up on since August and spell more upside for the market. All we need to see is some significant follow up today to seal in the deal.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 14th, 2006
FUNDAMENTALS
Oil took a boost yesterday as oil inventories dropped for a 3rd straight week which resulted in a marginal gain in stocks. OPEC will be meeting today again to discuss if further production cuts are necessary. Their decision will have a definite effect on the lukewarm oil price and the US economy at large. Analysts speculate that OPEC will not agree on further production cut this time round given that the effects of the last production cut has already held oil prices up from further drops. For me, I would say, “You’ll never know”.
TECHNICALS
Markets continued sideways exactly the same way it did for the whole of the week. It is obvious by now that major indices are up against their respective resistance levels and if they do not make a definite break to upside soon, we could really see a correction. This is the first time we are witnessing such a strong resistance level and weakness in the market since the rally begun. The only consolation is the all trendlines remain intact.
Posted in stock market by Administrator on the December 13th, 2006
Before today, I used to have to manually update 6 pages everytime I update our results. After a short online course in javascript, I have learnt and incorporated a simple code which updates all pages with the new results everytime it is posted! That not only saves me time but also spells an advancement to the website from a completely manually managed website to a professionally automated one. Eventually, I will make a full scale content management system for the updating of the whole website.
Sometimes life can be very simple. Just as you would gauge the health of a fax machine by the fineness of its print output and the health of a light bulb by the brightness and consistency of its glow, we can gauge the health of the market by its charts too.
