Daily Market Analysis

Subscribers to "Dave’s Daily Market Analysis" received the recent daily in-depth stock market reports:

Monday: Dow @ 12,105 up 156 points; NASDAQ @ 2,316 up 28 points

Today’s uptick in the markets is not surprising given recent economic developments. The employment numbers came out showing a rise in the number of unemployed workers. This, of course, dampens inflationary trends thereby ensuring the Fed will not be raising interest rates any time soon. The markets took all this good news in stride with gains across the board.

Tuesday: Dow @ 11,910 down 195; NASDAQ @ 2,325 up 9

Entirely predictable action on the Dow given the international trade figures released today. The U. S. balance of payments deficit hit an all-time high for the year which negatively impacted both the manufacturing and industrial sectors. Rapid growth in the Asian economies of course increased demand for high tech support which easily explains the modest increase in the NASDAQ.

Wednesday: Dow @ 12,250 up 340; NASDAQ @ 2,230 down 90

No surprises here as market watchers were long expecting institutional fund managers sitting on unduly large cash holdings to jump back in to U. S. equities. Today’s "bandwagon" effect was initiated at the opening bell and predictably drove trading throughout the day. If anything, the increase was not quite as big as expected. Cash-to-equities transactions of course spelled trouble for the NASDAQ which not surprisingly dropped significantly.

Thursday: Dow @ 12,005 down 245; NASDAQ @ 2,300 up 70

Savvy investors saw this development coming a mile away. Profit taking combined with a full moon and the first appearance of Venus in the northern sky made today’s market moves obvious. That and the start of the new school year meant no one versed in market analysis was caught off guard by today’s drop. And where did all that profit taking money go? Why to the NASDAQ, of course! Hence, up 3% on a record volume.

Friday: Dow @ 12,105 up 100; NASDAQ @ 2,316 up 16

Always take the long view with the markets. Day-to-day fluctuations can always be explained. But the important thing is long term performance over an extended period of time like, say, a week. The markets for this week were flat which was easily foreseen by the uncertainty in the housing market and the fact that the current astrological sign is Libra. A balanced approach to a balanced portfolio always spells slow, steady growth.

Monday: Dow @ 11,805 down 300; NASDAQ @ 2,166 down 150

Stellar economic indicators and strong third quarter corporate profits may have fooled many investors. Those not alert to underlying market realities would have missed today’s drop. But those who realized that today is October 24th knew that Libra gives say to Scorpio and a market sting is invariably the result of late October trading.

Tuesday: Dow @ 12,005 up 200; NASDAQ @ 2,266 up 100

Of course those economic numbers from Monday weren’t meaningless. Often, analysts take a day or two to fully assess their impact and then make their move. Entirely predictable and completely foreseeable.

Wednesday: Dow @ 12,205 up 200; NASDAQ @ 2,366 up 100

As I said, analysts often take one or two days to analyse the latest economic stats. The real shocker would have been if the markets had not gone up today.

Thursday: Dow @ 11,805 down 400; NASDAQ @ 2,166 down 200

Those not expecting profit taking after two straight days of sizable gains are not being realistic. And those in the know long ago spotted that today was a triple-witching day on Wall Street namely, a high tide, a lunar eclipse and the giant end-of-season sales at Brooks Brothers and Marc Jacobs.

Friday: Dow @ 12,000 up 195; NASDAQ @ 2,300 up 134

If you took yesterday’s 10% increase in the price of oil as a sign to cut your losses, you haven’t been paying attention. Oil’s up and that means the resource sector will drive the market for the next 24 hours. After that, it’s anybody’s guess.