Strong Start To Q2
Thursday, April 1, 2010 Market Commentary:
Stocks rallied on this shortened holiday week as investors digested the latest round of healthy economic data and Q1 came to close. Volume totals on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq exchange were reported lighter compared to Wednesday’s session. Breadth was positive, advancers led decliners by nearly a 3-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 14-to-13 ratio on the Nasdaq exchange. New 52-week highs trumped new lows on both exchanges yet again. Meanwhile, there were 43 high-ranked companies from the CANSLIM.net Leaders List made a new 52-week high and appeared on the CANSLIM.net BreakOuts Page, higher than the 16 issues that appeared on the prior session.
Monday & Tuesday’s Headlines:
Stocks rallied on Monday as the US dollar fell after the government said consumer spending rose in February for a fifth cosecutive month while personal income levels held steady. On Tuesday, stocks closed with modest gains after trading between positive and negative as investors digested a slew of economic data. Housing stocks sold off after the S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices was released. The 20-city home-price index unexpectedly rose +0.3% in January. The closely watched index tracks monthly changes of home prices in 20 metropolitan regions across the country and is used as a good proxy for the underlying health of the residential real estate market. Elsewhere, the Conference Board released its consumer sentiment index which rose to +52.5 in March, up from +46.4 in February.