As I disussed in my Market Forecast this weekend, this market needed to let off some steam and we should be patient with the market in the beginning of the week. The market took a quick pullback in the morning and fell below 1310, to 1306. It was able to climb back to close mixed.
This morning, EMC, PLCM, VMW, and WDC all reported better-than-expected earnings. EMC popped +7.25%; PLCM vaulted +13.19%; VMW jumped +7.74%; and WDC gained +6.25%. We didn’t do much yesterday as it was Chinese New Year’s Day. I did, however, picked up some PLCM Feb 17.5 calls, for myself, at $1.45 and sold them this morning $4.2, for an overnight +190% profit:
After the market, AAPL blew away all estimates and reported record numbers for iPads and iPhones. It delivered a net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 a share; analysts had expected $10.16 per share. AAPL shares jumped +7.33% this evening.
The Dow was down 33.07 points; SPX slid 1.35 points; Nasdaq added +2.47 points:
BTK (biotechs) gained +1.38%. Both SOXX (semiconductors) and FDN (internet) were slightly up. USO (oil) and GLD (gold) were both down.
SPX
SPX slid 1.35 points to close at 1314.65. Its daily MAs went up, but, the MACD was flat.
Nasdaq
Nasdaq added +2.47 points to close at 2786.64. Its MACD also flattened.
So, the market took a little rest. But, earnings from tech companies continue to be strong. AAPL’s blowout numbers should give tech stocks more fuel to continue the rally. AAPL is trading just above $450 tonight. In my opinion, $450 does not even begin to reflect how strong the quarter was. We could see AAPL test $480 before taking a break. Market indices are still toppy, perhaps that’s why AAPL did not jump as much as it could right away.
BTU’s earnings this morning missed the mark. But, it clawed its way back up to close down only $0.65! CLF and WLT continued to push higher. Looks like a merger deal in the coal mining sector could really materialize soon. We’ll keep our eyes on these.
SPX is struggling to break above 1320. Until then, the market seems to be in a consolidation mode.
Good night and HappyTrading! ™ 
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