Dow and Nasdaq reach record highs, but energy pressures S&P 500

U.S. equities rose on Tuesday, but traded off session highs, as energy weighed while investors focused on a slew of corporate earnings reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average briefly rose more than 100 points, hitting a new record high, before holding about 40 points higher with Boeing contributing the most gains. The S&P 500 chopped around the flatline, with energy falling more than 1 percent.

The S&P 500 chopped around the flatline, with energy falling more than 1 percent. U.S. crude futures for March delivery fell 2 percent to $52.01 per barrel amid concerns of higher U.S. shale production.

“Today, as opposed to two years ago, we’re looking at a commodity that’s not in short supply. That makes it a lot less of a long-term investment,” said Maris Ogg, president at Tower Bridge Advisors. “This is really like a growth company that fesses up that it can’t grow anymore.”  Read More

Stock trading, buy your options now!

Are you involved in any way with the stock market?

Maybe you’ve got some stocks. Maybe you manage your own portfolio. Maybe you have an account with an online brokerage. Maybe you even trade stocks and options regularly.

Regardless of your level of involvement, the bottom line is that you are NOT a professional trader on Wall Street.

Therefore, you are trading with a huge handicap! Yes, you are at a major disadvantage…

UNLESS… you’re using ‘The Simple Trade System’.

There has never been a course like this.

This is the way real professionals trade, and if you’re not using this information you’re simply not doing as well as you could be doing. You see…

The market offers unlimited opportunities to players who understand what is going to happen next in the market.

It does not apologize for taking your money when you’re wrong. It doesn’t feel bad when you’re caught off-guard by a surprise move.

In fact, the market doesn’t have any feelings at all!

The market is not a person and it doesn’t care one little bit about the money you’ve gained or lost.

It fluctuates in a way that frustrates the majority of players, and rewards only the 5% of traders who understand that it’s NOT news, technical analysis, or earnings that make the market move.

The top 5% of professionals who make consistent profits in the market look at the market differently than ordinary traders (aka “retail traders”) .

How would you like to see those kind of profits in your account?

I can’t guarantee that you’ll achieve any specific results, but what I do 100% guarantee is that I’ll be giving you the EXACT SAME system and strategies used to make a consistent income like the screenshots above.  Read More

Twitter Files IPO as Social Media Stocks Storm Back

Twitter Inc.’s planned IPO is likely going to be forever tied to Facebook Inc.FB -0.64%’s.

As two of the most high-profile of social-media companies, investors have been anxious the past few years to see how those companies would make money and whether they would become high flying stocks. They are constantly talked about not just on Wall Street but on Main Street too.

Facebook got out the door first with its record-setting $16 billion IPO last May. But its weak reception — its stock took a year for it to return to its IPO price — spooked investors about social media and internet stocks in general.

GrouponGRPN +1.95% and ZyngaZNGA +0.67% slumped as well last year with  each losing some three-quarters of their value in 2012.

Many expected Twitter to hold off until black cloud lifted on social-media stocks.

Well, things look better now.

Facebook shares are up 88% over the past three months as its results showed revenue growth in mobile, a key concern for shareholders at the time of the IPO. The stock hit an all-time intraday high on Thursday of $45.62.  Read More

3 Signs the Market Is Near a Top

We may be closer to a major market top than most investors think.

That at least is the conclusion that emerged when I compared the current market environment to what prevailed at major market tops of the past century.

To be sure, there are some dissimilarities as well. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re not peaking. No two tops are exactly alike. As Mark Twain famously said, even if history does not repeat itself, it does rhyme.

With that thought in mind, I examined all 35 bull market tops since the 1920s. I searched for patterns in the performance of not only the market itself, but of various internal market factors, such as earnings and price/earnings ratios. I was also interested in how small company stocks tend to perform in the months leading up to a top, both in their own right and relative to large-cap stocks. Likewise, I searched for patterns in the relative returns of growth and value stocks.

I relied on several extensive databases: Yale University Prof. Robert Shiller’s database of Standard & Poor’s 500 earnings and P/E ratios, as well as a database showing the relative performances of small- and large-cap stocks, as well as of the growth and value styles, maintained by Eugene Fama of the University of Chicago and Ken French of Dartmouth. To determine when bull and bear markets have begun and ended, I relied on the precise definitions employed by Ned Davis Research, the quantitative research firm.

Here’s what I found.

Market rises steeply before bull dies

The typical bull market comes to an end following a period of extraordinary performance. In other words, some of a bull market’s best returns are produced right before it dies.

This is important to know if you thought that this bull market would, before it breathes its last, begin to slow down and go through a period of modest performance. That’s not typically the case: On a price chart, the average market top looks more like a pointed mountain peak than a plateau.

While it is of course possible that the next market top is more like a plateau, it would be the exception rather than rule: Since the 1920s, the average bull market has gained more than 21% over the 12 months prior to a top — more than double the long-term average.

Interestingly, the stock market recently has produced a return that is quite similar to this average 12-month gain prior to market tops: The S&P 500 over this period is up nearly 23%.  Read More

Disney shares pass all-time high on earnings

Shares of Walt Disney Co. (DIS, Fortune 500) passed their all-time high in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company reported strong earnings growth, driven by rising revenues at ESPN and the runaway success of “The Avengers.”

Despite stumbling with “John Carter,” the sci-fi epic that lost the company $200 million, Disney reported earnings for the first three months of the year that surged 18% versus 2011.

“The Avengers” smashed box-office records in its debut this past weekend, grossing more than $207 million and shaping up to be Disney’s highest-earning film ever. Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a call with analysts Tuesday that Disney would release an “Avengers” sequel “eventually, at a date to be determined.”

“We’re incredibly optimistic about our future, given the strength of our core brands, Disney, Pixar, Marvel, ESPN, and ABC, and our extraordinary ability to grow franchises across our businesses,” Iger said in a statement.

Disney reported earnings, excluding certain items, of 58 cents a share on $9.6 billion in revenue. Shares closed at $44.30 on Tuesday before gaining 1.3% in after-hours trading, hitting $44.86.   Read More

The Week Ahead: Will Europe Spoil Apple’s Party?

If this surprisingly good week makes you want to jump back into stocks with both feet, be patient, writes MoneyShow’s Tom Aspray. A cautious approach will pay off in the leading sectors and plays he has uncovered.

The strong earnings last week were indeed enough to push the stock market higher, with the Spyder Trust (SPY) showing a nice gain of 2.6%, while the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ) was up 3.2%.

Of course, it was earnings from Apple (AAPL) that saved the day. After trading as low as $555 on Tuesday afternoon, it surged as high as $618 early Wednesday in response to the reported 35 million iPhones sold.

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Apple (AAPL) looks ready to close April above its monthly Starc+ band for the third month in a row. For those who are not familiar with Starc band analysis, these bands identify extreme price levels in any market. When prices are at or above the Starc+ bands, it is a high-risk time to buy.  Read More