Stocks Edge Higher Ahead of Fed Meeting
Monday, August 09, 2010
Market Commentary:
The major averages ended higher adding to their 6-week rally that was confirmed on the July 7, 2010 follow-through day. Volume totals were reported lower on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq exchanges versus the prior session. Advancers led decliners by almost a 3-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by almost a 2-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq exchange. New 52-week highs easily outnumbered new 52-week lows on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq exchange. There were 44 high-ranked companies from the CANSLIM.net Leaders List made a new 52-week high and appeared on the CANSLIM.net BreakOuts Page, higher from the 13 issues that appeared on the prior session.
Strong #’s Help Stocks Rally:
Stocks opened higher after McDonald’s Corp. (MCD +1.64%) topped sales estimates and gapped up to a fresh 52-week high. Ebay Inc. (EBAY +2.47%) also gapped up after its former unit Skype SA filed for an initial public offering for $100 million. Ebay bought Skype in 2005 and sold the company to a group of private investors led by Silver Lake for $2 billion in November 2009. EBay, retained a 30% stake in Skype which will make the company one of the largest shareholders in the new IPO. Elsewhere, several homebuilders caught a bid after a large Wall Street firm upgraded the group and said the housing market downturn is almost over. However, stocks encountered some pressure after news broke that the Fed might downgrade their outlook on the US economy when they meet on Tuesday.