July 26, 2006 Stock Market Recap

Today was pretty much a stalemate, although I have to give a slight edge to the bulls. Things were looking kinda bleak for the first couple of hours but for the second day in a row buyers stepped in to support the indices. I don’t know if today’s buying was in anticipation of the Beige Book’s release, month end mark-ups, technical buying as yesterday’s lows wouldn’t break or something else. Whatever the reason for the buying was it’s clear that the bulls have drawn a line in the sand right at this week’s today’s & yesterday’s lows.

The Nasdaq couldn’t hold above that 2075 area I’ve been mentioning. Perhaps it will be able to break through once the month end mark-up crew gets to work.

Bulls & bears are having a real battle across the S&P’s 200-day moving average. The index has whipsawed across that moving average yesterday and today.

Trend Table

There are no changes to the trend table today.

Trend Nasdaq S&P 500 Russell 2000
Primary Down Lat Lat
Intermediate Down Lat Down
Short-term Up Up Up

(+) Indicates an upward reclassification today
(-) Indicates a downward reclassification today
Lat Indicates a Lateral trend