Wang’s Happy Trading

INTC’s superb earnings last night gave the market a nice boost right from the start, and, it never looked back!  The techs and financials were very strong.  INTC shares closed +7.25% higher.  GOOG, which reports earnings after the market tomorrow, jumped $13.48, or +3.17%.  BIDU added $16.76, or +5.6%.  GS, after a muted response directly after its quarterly results, went up +3.74% today.  AAPL charged up to almost $147, highest level since October 2008!  Miners were even stronger!  FCX gained +5.67% while X rose +7.55%.  Coals had a nice bounce: CNX +6.53%, MEE +7.43%, BTU +6.28%.

We continued to lock in profits today.  We traded on mostly on the safe side with August calls:
July 15, 2009
12:46 | HappyTrading LFC ($60.76) Sold to Close LFCHL Aug 60 calls, at $3.40 +19%
12:40 | HappyTrading AAPL ($146.70) Sold to Close APVHI Aug 145 calls, at $7.85 +18%
12:34 | HappyTrading GS ($155.20) Sold to Close GPYHJ Aug 150 calls, at $10.35 +23%
12:23 | HappyTrading NFLX ($44.28) Sold to Close QNQHV Aug 43 calls, at $4.00 +25%

The Dow finished up +256.72 points; SPX added +26.84 points; Nasdaq jumped +63.17 points:

INX2 (internet) led the techs up +4.69%.  SOXX (semiconductors) added +4.43%.  XME (metals and mining) hopped +5.27% while GDX (gold miners) gained +4.16%.  USO (oil) added +4.24% and OIH (oil services) tacked on +4.33%.  PBW (clean energy) bounced +5.15%.  Both GLD (gold) and SLV (silver) went higher.  FXI (Chinese ADRs) advanced +4.28%.

SPX

SPX added +26.84 points to close at 932.68.  It closed above its daily MAs.  The MACD turned higher.

Nasdaq

Nasdaq jumped +63.17 points to close at 1862.9.  It caught up with its daily upper BB.  Its daily MAs and MACD turned up.

This was a tremendous day for the financials markets.  Just last week, things tested the support levels and seemed to be ready to break down.  With the help from some bellwether company earnings (GS and INTC, so far), things are starting to look bullish again!  VIX dropped hard to 24 early today and found support from that level at 25 again.  It eventually bounced back to close at almost 26.  But, the market did not budge!  While VIX bounced, buyers just kept on coming in.  The market indices basically closed at day high.  SPX closed above 930 and Nasdaq above 1860, right back to the high end of the recent trading range.  The daily MAs and MACDs are turning up again.  In fact, both SPX and Nasdaq are showing new bullish crossovers in their daily MACD.  This is encouraging.  Did we come up fast (see "Fast and Furious" article)?  Yes!  Does the market need a breather?  Perhaps.  But, things do look strong and I think the altitude can hold while letting off some steam.  We have more key earnings reports coming tomorrow:  JPM, before the market opens; GOOG and IBM both after the market closes.  These will help determine whether we can finally break out of the recent trading range.  Breaking above SPX 950 will be the key!

Good night and HappyTrading! ™