Jesse’s Cafe’ Americain The VIX (volatility index) fell to 20.39 today which is near the lows for the year, signaling a complacency in the US equity markets, although the bulls would call it ‘the new norm’ which is a euphemism for ‘all is well again.’ Today the market drifted upwards in light volumes as the risk...

AC Investor ( click to enlarge ) I’m watching JDSU because it looks like the stock wants to do something. The stock was strong on Monday as the stock closed up $0.16 on the day. I’m buyer of JDSU if it can break through Monday’s high of $8.01. If the stock breaks resistance, you will see the stock move very quickly as traders like to hop...

Elliot Turner of T3Live.com Once again, I want to focus attention on the Russell 2000. The index now has moved comfortably above its November highs and is within striking distance of the September/October double top. Seasonality plays a role in the reemergence of the small cap index, but also, so does risk tolerance in the marketplace. Leading up to...

Courtney Comstock of Business Insider One of Len Blavatnik’s companies lost $98 million in a $1 billion portfolio invested with JPM. It’s not our fault! They say. So they’re suing JPM. CMMF claims that when JPMorgan was retained in May 2006, it was given broad discretion in how it invested the funds but its goal was to “provide...

You’ve no doubt heard the old mantras “stocks for the long haul,” “diversify,” “buy and hold.” Investment gurus worldwide repeat them daily ad naseum. But are they really wise investment strategies for ALL markets as advertised? Can any piece of advice that’s so simple yet so...

Crude oil closed lower due to profit taking on Monday as it consolidated some of last week’s rally. The low range close sets the stage for a steady to lower opening on Tuesday. Stochastics and the RSI remain bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near term. Closes above the 20 day moving average crossing at 74.04 are needed...

Courtesy of Reggie Middleton, of Zero Hedge As many people focus on commercial real estate exposure, they forget that we are only about halfway or so through the residential crash. The $8k homebuyer tax credit did serve to support the lower end of the residential market (from my anecdotal observations), but did very little to solve the problem. Basically,...

Investor Doug Kass is out with his top 20 surprises for 2010. Everyone is doing lists like these, though Kass’s are always particularly interesting and thought provoking. They’re available — by subscription — at TheStreet.com: —- 1. There is a glaring upside to first-quarter 2010 corporate profits (up 100% year over...

Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist The following is the technical outlook from Decision Point: Since this will be our last article for 2009, I thought it would be appropriate to do an analysis of the short-, medium-, and long-term charts and synthesize a broad outlook for the market. In my December 4 article I said we should expect an upside breakout,...

Scott Redler of T3Live.com With the market unable to break out or down of its multi-month range, we think it is very important to watch AAPL and GS–two of the markets leaders during this runup off of the March lows. If these two stocks can break their recent downtrend, the market should have a free shot at the 1,127-1,135 area on the S&Ps....

CalculatedRisk From the Chicago Fed: Index shows economic activity improved in November Led by improvements in production-related and employment-related indicators, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index increased to –0.32 in November, up sharply from –1.02 in October. … The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, increased to...

Athersys Inc. said Monday it signed a development deal with Pfizer Inc. worth $6 million upfront and potentially up to $105 million for an experimental stem cell therapy. Under the deal Athersys will receive the upfront cash payment, along with research funding for its MultiStem, a potential stem cell-based treatment for inflammatory bowel disease....

Gold Trends: Gold has been leading the market for almost a year. Last week gold and gold stocks were trading at support looking ready to bottom but as you will see in my charts below, both broke support on heavy volume. With gold now under performing the stocks market, I get the feeling we could see the broad market top. Topping is a process and after...

CalculatedRisk Existing home sales will be released on Tuesday (probably around 6.3 SAAR, the highest level since the end of the bubble). New Home sales will be released on Wednesday (probably around 430 thousand SAAR). Of course the number that matters for the economy is new home sales … In other economic news, the BEA will release the final...

AC Investor ( click to enlarge ) MOT – The price movement this week was marked by a high degree of volatility. The stock price action was devoid of any significant momentum during the week. The near-term outlook would depend on the price movement in the next few days. A close above $8.61 would impart bullishness and would help the stock move to...