Monday, February 21, 2011

Options Ex Fri, all U.S. avgs close up .1% to new highs, DIA up .6%

Most of the trading desks vacated on Thur to enjoy a four-day weekend. As the markets were closed Mon for the President's Day holiday, action should return to normal with retailers in the spotlight on the earnings front this week.

Last Fri, 275 issues closed at new 50-day highs.

Apparel was led by PSS up .35 to 23.44.

Commodities was the top sector led by Silver up .76 to 31.79, JO up .57 to 72.43. However, BAL got chopped 12.94 to 98.06.

Software led by INTU as TurboTax is still the most popular do-it-yourself program for Americans to compile their federal tax returns, up 3.67 to 54.11. ADBE up .41 to 35.39.

Cable Television led by CMCSA up .45 to 25.67 (every dip has been bought since Jan 30).

Cigarettes led by PM up .59 to 61.43. (up everyday but one in the month of Feb).

Coal led by JOYG up 1.96 to 100.03.

Dow component HD up .30 to 38.48. They report earnings before the bell on Tue.

Food was led by HRL up .40 to 26.92 (Six straight up days, since 90% of Americans eat some serving of meat, they'll just trade down to SPAM).

Medical Instruments & Supplies was led by SYK up 2.22 to 63. Possible rotation into sectors that underperformed the averages in January.

Metal Fabrication led by VMI up 12.70 to 110.26.

Nasdaq Big-Cappers mostly down, AAPL down 7.74 to 350.56 (while rumors about CEO Steve Jobs likely removed buying support in the final hour, word over the weekend is the updated MacBook Pro shipped to retail stores and will be seen on Feb 24), PCLN down 6.34 to 448.93, BIDU down 1.74 to 126.80, AMZN down 1.26 to 186.50. GOOG bucked the negative trend with a gain of 4.82 to 630.08.

Oil was led by OXY up 1.52 to 107.37 (five straight up day after staying above the $100 barrier.), COP up 1.10 to 76.62, CVX up 1.55 to 98.72.

REITs led by PSA up 1.26 to 111.65.

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