Happy Weekend. Let’s look at something positive. The Nas has been on a roll! 12 straight days in the black. Earnings reports from tech stocks have been excellent for the most part. Apple, eBay, Qualcomm, and Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) all tipped in well above predicted. They beat the street. Yesterday ISRG pounded every other stock by going up over $45 per share. One anti regular had to keep smacking himself to make sure it was all real.
The Nasdaq hasn’t been on such a roll for a long time. Is this a good sign of economic recovery? Doesn’t the stock market always herald how investors feel things will be 6 months from now? Not all that glitters is gold however. The winning streak might have a temporary setback today as investors do some profit taking.
Additionally, Microsoft, one of the giants of the Nasdaq, had a very bad quarterly report yesterday. Earnings were down and were reflective of a global economy in crisis. It will be interesting to see what happens today. Will we keep our earnings and will profit taking be a blip on the radar, or is the overall stock run that we have been experiencing since March going to come to a screeching halt? Will the Microsoft report be a spoiler because of its influence in the tech world? Asian markets are looking good today. The Dow and the S & P are all sporting that upward green arrow! Run Bulls Run!
Readers, contributors, what stocks have you been watching? Has everyone jumped back into the market or are you thinking about sticking a toe in? Who has some great stocks, mutual funds or ETFs to report that maybe have flown under the radar? Share! Inquiring greedy minds want to know.
We haven’t added to our portfolio in a couple years but haven’t bailed out either. It was good to see a bit of profit this quarter though. I’ll round up the paperwork later today and see if I can pinpoint what performed better lately.
Indeed, yesterday was a great day on the market. The past 2 weeks have been. The market is a leading indicator for the economy actually. Many companies reported better than expected earnings – IBM, Raytheon, Ford, and others. Then again Microsoft disappointed. Of course ISRG’s earnings were spectactular as MH stated above – they make robotic surgical machines to assist doctors in performing extremely delicate microscopic surgery. Everyone thought due to the economy their sales would be down and their profits would be lower, instead it was just the opposite, which was quite a surprise. As a result their stock was up 26% yesterday, and actually from last March to now has more than doubled, from a low of $86 in March to its current price of $215 as of last night’s closing. Before yesterday, it had only been as high as $169, and two weeks before that was $141.
The markets are just slightly lower right now – not surprising in light of the Microsoft news and maybe profit taking. Up until the market opened, futures were higher, but it appears the market is just slightly down. However, not by much which is a good sign. And, surprisingly, while I expected some profit taking on ISRG after yesterday’s huge 26% runup – it is up another 0.5% as of now (9:35 AM). That could change though – but it’s showing amazing strength at the moment.
Gainesville Resident is still basking in the afterglow, I see. 😉
It is said in economics and finance that the first indication of recovery is in the stock market which will precede the actual announcement by 6 months to a year. Let’s hope that this recession keeps with prior ones. Unfortunately, employment is one of the last ones to improve as companies look for sustained recovery before rehiring. It will still be a recession to those folks. A real shame!
My 401(k) has a pulse!!
For those of us that have had a 401(k) for some years –
“even is the new up”.
Thank goodness that Bush II and his fellow GOP crooks were not
able to turn Social Security into a Ponzi scheme. The
crowd dumpster diving behind Blooms would be even larger.
“Even is the new up” hahahahaha Good one, Poor Richard. I am not even close to even yet….at least using October 31, 2007 as the high water mark. Not even close.
Unemployment is a real problem for many states. I read where 16 states might have to just stop unemployment checks because they have run out of money. Hearing stories like that one, it makes one wonder if this stock market recovery is built on a ponzi scheme. Are the earnings posted artificial?
There was not as much profit taking today as expected. The NAS was down but the Dow and the S & P stayed green.
Dow 9,093.24 +23.95 (0.26%)
S&P 500 979.26 +2.97 (0.30%)
Nasdaq 1,965.96 -7.64 (-0.39%)
I won’t be happy until we’re above 12,000. That’s where we were when Clinton left office, before the 8-year fiasco of deregulation and tax breaks for mega-corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent.
http://www.the-privateer.com/chart/dow-long.html