12/13

12/14/2007, at 1:43 am

The markets continued their ambivalence toward clarity today without much action of any significance.  Strong open, no follow-through, selling throughout most of the day and sort of meek rally back up at the end of the day.

Declining stocks led advancers by a 4/1 clip most of the day but managed to cut that ratio to 2/1 by the close.  The DOW closed just under its 50 Day MA, the S&P closed just above its 40 & 200 Day MA’s, and the NAZ continues to look weak.

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We noted LEH and COST earnings yesterday, and today both reported numbers that were met with…  Not much enthusiasm, both ending down. 

LEH saw heavy selling in the morning but managed to climb back up by the close.  There appears to be some skepticism about their earnings and their actual financial condition. We expect that if GS reports good earnings next week that LEH and the financial group will probably see some upside.

COST reported in line with good revenue growth but margins were weak, attributed to gasoline costs.  They also noted electronics were strong but price-cutting may have an effect.  This sounded a little dicey to us but after opening down almost $5, it rallied to within ~.50 of yesterday’s close before trending slightly down for the remainder of the day, finishing off by more than 1.5%.

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It’s starting to look like range trading for the rest of the year without a catalyst one way or the other.  Caution prevails.

Coach BD    

Filed Under: Past Commentaries