Swing Trading Strategies & Stock Picks Since 2003

Dow Industrial Average

Key Statistics: Mar 10

Open: 10560.98

High: 10609.80

Low: 10507.17

Close: 10608.44

Change: 44.51 (0.42%)

RSI: 67.75

MACD: 77.49

Strategy

The recent uptrend has started showing signs of showing signs of erratic movements on upside again but the market is finding it difficult to advance with a strong momentum, as participants are now becoming risk averse. However, the cheap borrowing cost is still allowing the indices to gain at a slow pace.

Market Commentary

US stocks markets moved up in the late hours of the session after a flat opening, on the back of strong performance by financials and stocks from technicals.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.51 points, or 0.4%, at 10,611.84.

The S&P 500 Index rose 4.63 points, or 0.4%, to a trailing 17 month high.

The markets cheered the news from Citigroup Inc. that the bank is on its way to sustainable profitability and as Democrats gave up on a bipartisan effort to overhaul financial regulation.

IBM led from the front amongst the Dow constituents from technology sectors, and gained 1.6% in the session, as it has been rated as the best consumer stocks in US.

Research In Motion, a maker of Blackberry and Google also gained in the session amongst the technology and telecom stocks.

Amongst the M&A activities which were in focus, BP PLC announced it would pay $7 billion to acquire rights from Devon Energy Corp. to explore in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the Caspian Sea and in Brazil.

Amongst the major economic indicators, a lot of reports were released on Thursday.

Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose 6% from a year earlier and fell 2% from January 2010.

After months of efforts to craft a bipartisan bill, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd plans to introduce a revised version of sweeping bank reform legislation on Monday, most likely without Republican support.

Ahead of Wall Street's start, the U.S. Labor Department offered a mixed picture on the employment front, saying its count of Americans filing first-time jobless claims declined for a second week, while the four-week moving average of claims increased to 475,500. Initial claims were down 6000 from last week.

Also the stock index futures and commodities were down after China reported its inflation rate rose to 2.7% in February from 1.5% the prior month.

Another report from the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit fell in January due to large decline in imported oil and autos.

Out of the Dow sectors, the gains were led by Financials (+0.9%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.6%), Materials (+0.5%) and Health Care (+0.4%) session. But. As many as 9 sectors ended with gains in the session.

25 Dow constituents stocks advanced in the session at a tepid pace, barring Walt Disney 1.44%, Travelers 1.38%, IBM 1.58% and Home Depot 1.32% while the out of 4 losers in the session, Coca Cola 1.11%, 3M 0.37% shed some gains in the session.

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery rose 2 cents to settle at $82.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Comex gold for April delivery rose $0.10 to settle at $1,108.20 per ounce, while the May deliveries were slightly higher.

The Day Ahead

Consumer Price Index for January

Retail Sales for Feb

Consumer Sentiment for March