The market had a pullback last week, but, bounced strongly this week. Today, SPX closed above 1460, right back to where the pullback happened. The story this week, however, has not all been positive; big movers were all over the place on both sides! Well, it is the earnings season! ISRG had a huge ($35) range today after reporting earnings last night; it finished flat, off just 72 cents! APOL tumbled more than 22% after reporting disappointing results; we picked up some puts yesterday and scored an overnight +195% gain! CHKP was down 13.22% after giving weaker-than-expected guidance. CREE rose more than +10% on strong results and outlook. CYMI popped a whopping +23% after ASML agreed to buy the company; ASML shares slipped 6.55%.
As the market climbed these past few days, we locked in some profits:
- October 17, 2012
- 10:57 | HappyTrading AIG ($36.65) Sold to Close 11C35 Nov 35 calls, at $2.13 +27%
- 08:53 | HappyTrading CLF ($45.15) Sold to Close 11C42 Nov 42 calls, at $4.50 +61%
- 07:27 | Ecstatic Plays APOL ($22.80) Sold to Close 10P28 Oct 28 put, at $5.20 +195%
- October 16, 2012
- 12:54 | HappyTrading CLF ($44.00) Sold to Close 11C42 Nov 42 calls, at $3.80 +36%
- 09:27 | Ecstatic Plays FSLR ($23.90) Sold to Close 10C23 Oct 23 calls, at $1.20 +25%
- 09:02 | HappyTrading AIG ($36.85) Sold to Close 11C35 Nov 35 calls, at $2.28 +36%
- 07:57 | Bagger Vance AAPL ($639.00) Sold to Close 10C630 Oct 630 calls, at $12.40 +32%
- 07:13 | Ecstatic Plays C ($37.30) Sold to Close 10C35 Oct 35 calls, at $2.32 +78%
(to subscribe to our trade alerts, please visit our Services Page or CLICK HERE to watch a step-by-step instructional video)
The Dow was up +5.22 points; SPX added +5.99 points; Nasdaq gained +2.95 points:
BTK (biotech) popped +2.13%, so did XME (metals and mining). XLE (energy) and OIH (oil services) both had a positive day, up +1.26% and +1.63%, respectively.
SPX
SPX added +5.99 points to close at 1460.91. Its daily MAs and MACD turned up.
Nasdaq
Nasdaq climbed +2.95 points to close at 3104.12. It closed at its 20-day MA and its MACD went up.
Techs have actually been weaker than the broader market. AAPL and AMZN led the pullback last week. Yesterday, IBM reporting quarterly results that were softer than expected; its shares fell almost 5%. Cloud stocks were all weak today: FFIV -3.82%; CRM -2.46%; VMW -3.82%. However, in the face of tech leaders pulling back, the broader maker managed to closed in the green. Industrials were strong today and housing stocks also rocked higher. In Asia, Hong Kong has already broken higher. China and Japan are starting to turn bullish. As money rotates from techs to industrials, new money from the sideline should start to come in and pick up some tech stocks on their recent pullback. AAPL has pulled back from $700 to test $625, closing at $645 today. AAPL is widely expected to present iPad Mini next week. We could see some buying ahead of the event on Oct 23 (Tuesday). NFLX has been falling for the most of this year, and has finally turned higher. We could see NFLX test $80 soon.
Good night and HappyTrading! ™ 
