Stocks Edge Higher As Dollar Falls
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Stock Market Commentary:
Wednesday marked the second anniversary of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy which accelerated the credit and financial crisis. Stocks ended higher as the US dollar fell for a fifth consecutive day against the euro and investors looked past tepid economic data from the NY Fed. Volume was reported slightly lower on the NYSE and about even on the Nasdaq exchange compared to Tuesday’s levels. Advancers led decliners by a small margin on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq exchange. New 52-week highs easily outnumbered new 52-week lows on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq exchange. There were 46 high-ranked companies from the CANSLIM.net Leaders List made a new 52-week high and appeared on the CANSLIM.net BreakOuts Page, lower than the 69 issues that appeared on the prior session.
Stocks Shrug Off Weak Economic Data:
Stocks opened lower after New York-area manufacturing and other industrial data slowed and missed forecasts. The The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index slid to -4.1 in September which was the lowest reading since July 2009 and lower than August’s reading of +7.1. The reading was also lower than the Street’s estimate for a rise to 8 which is above the boom/bust level of zero. Oversea’s, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) intervened in the currency market to curb the Yen’s recent free-fall. The news helped send the US dollar lower for the fifth consecutive day which also helped lift dollar denominated assets; mainly stocks and commodities.
Market Action- Confirmed Rally
Overall, the action since this rally was confirmed on the September 1, 2010 follow-through day (FTD) remains healthy. Looking forward, the window is now open for disciplined investors to begin carefully buying high-ranked stocks again. It was encouraging to see a flurry of high-ranked leaders trigger fresh technical buy signals and break out of sound bases in recent weeks. All the major averages rallied above their respective 200-day moving average (DMA) lines this week, which is another encouraging sign. The next important resistance level the major averages are facing is their respective summer highs.
