9:00am (EST)
The bulls were on their game yesterday and once again made a run at our “fluff” targets as the market moved one step closer to a breakout. Economic news was mixed which lead to a choppy start as Durable Goods disappointed while Consumer Confidence came in better-than-expected. Despite the back-in-forth action, the bulls controlled the final two hours of trading as the indexes reached new highs.
The Dow gained 24 points, or 0.2%, to settle at 13,005. The blue-chips reached a peak of 13,021 after touching a low of 12,952 at the open. Back in November when the Dow was at 11,800 we said the index would move 1,000 points and could reach 13,000-13,200 once the 12,800 level was taken out. The close above 13K was the first since May 2008 which now gets 13,500 into the picture.
The S&P added nearly 5 points, or 0.3%, to end at 1,372. The index came within spitting distance of hitting our 1,375 target and the top for Tuesday was 1,373 which was a new 52-week high. The S&P was battling 1,200 back in November and we said to watch for a run past 1,300-1,325. Once cleared, we said to watch for the battle at 1,350 and gave fluff targets of 1,375-1,400.
The Nasdaq jumped 21 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 2,987. Tech traded to a high of 2,989 and fell just short of triggering our 3,000 target. We mentioned a few months ago that a close above 2,800 would get 3,000-3,250 into the mix and it would nice to see these targets reached before a pullback.
Costco Wholesale (COST, $85.27, up $0.18), Finisar (FNSR, $21.79, down $1.23), Joy Global (JOY, $91.77, up $0.76), Safeguard Scientifics (SFE, $17.63, up $0.65), Sodastream International (SODA, $47.50, up $2.44), Sothebys (BID, $39.96, up $0.16) and Tootsie Roll Industries (TR, $23.53, down $0.24) will be on the move today as all of them are reporting earnings.
Futures are showing a slightly higher open this morning as the Dow futures are up 15 points to 13,012 while the S&P futures are up 2 points to 1,373. The Nasdaq 100 futures are up a six-pack to 2,638.
We have another busy morning so we have to cut it short. We could be adding another 1 or 2 new trades today from our Watch List as a way to play gold and silver. We also have 1 NEW TRADE for our Weekly Wrap that will be out around 10am this morning and an update for a current one so look for that Trade Alert as well. Subscribers, check the Members Area for the updates.