Take over mania hits Wall Street lifting stocks
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Stocks finished near session highs as the market rebounded from its worse performance in 3 weeks. Chaparral (CHAP) takes the cake for take over news as Gerdau Ameristeel’ bid 4.22 billion for the steel company sparked enthusiam for other potential buy outs. Traders armed with news from CHAP bid stocks higher at the open. However, traders did not muster up enough steam to push volume higher on the session. Instituitional buyers remained on the sidelines.
Sub-prime mortgages as well as the CDO market are creating fear of a potential crisis. I believe this fear will continue much into late 4th quarter as Bear Stearns hedge fund needs to be unwound. Just in time for the Christmas holiday! However, I do not believe there will be a crisis that will cripple the stock market. The way CDOs are structured, they have stripped away much of the default risk associated with the underlying collateral. What I do suggest is staying away from the Merrill’s, Goldmans, and Morgan Stanleys of the world. Traders will pressure these stocks as stock holders will more than likely sell into the fear of the sub-prime/CDO market.
Distribution days still remain high for this market. Currently, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average have 5 days worth of distribution while the NASDAQ and NYSE only have 2. Look a bit deeper and you’ll notice that the NASDAQ and NYSE are the leading indicies in this market. Both have strong Relative Strength to the S&P 500. A positive spin on the distribution count but, we must adhere to the side of caution when any index has 5 or more days of instituitional selling.
Bears were back at it again, pushing the total put/call ratio as high as 1.27 but finising at its low of .92. The ratio is being pushed higher by the amount of put buying on indexes. The index put/call ration finished the day at 1.58. Clearly showing the amount of pessimism that remains on the overall market. This type of reading from the put/call is generally not seen with a market top.
Path of least resistance remains upward.
Market Speculator
***Update on longs will be delayed, my 7 mo old had other plans this evening.
Last 5 posts in Market Commentary
- Three 2009 Stock Market Predictions - January 4th, 2009
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- Merry Christmas! - December 25th, 2008
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- Santa's Rally Still Intact; Stocks Continue Moving Higher - December 20th, 2008
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Good luck with the new site!