The S&P made narrowly another new all-time high Monday in a quiet session. After extending above the psychological 1,600 level for the first time ever Friday thanks to a much better-than-expected jobs report, it feels like the index could use some rest. Short-term moving averages need time to play catch-up, but just because the market doesn’t feel like a compelling long at this point doesn’t mean it’s a short. Market tops are marked by widespread euphoria and that does not seem to be the prevailing feeling right now. The Dow finished down 0.03% while the Nasdaq showed relative strenth, gaining 0.43% vs. the S&P’s 0.22% gain.
While the indices were somewhat quiet today, the stock specific action continues to be outstanding from traders’ perspective.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) was one of the biggest winners on the day, gaining 1.76% and breaking out of a multi-week base to another new all-time high. The stock remains in a steep uptrend since October 2011, gaining 140% in that time.
Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) resurgence continued as it showed relative strength again today with a 2.38% gain. We have observed with AAPL before that when it is really “ready to go,” it hardly gives traders a way into the move. Since earnings, that has been the case with AAPL, as it has hardly had a down day to allow traders to “buy the dip” comfortably. AAPL has an open gap at the $500-515 area, and we could see the stock get back to that level within the next month.
While AAPL crawls off the mat, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) continues to flex its musclez as the king of high-beta tech. The search giant made another new all-time high today, gaining 1.87%.
A theme we have touched on often recently is strength in some very highly-shorted stocks. Within that group, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is one of the most highly-shorted, and has been one of the best and most consistent performers. The electric-car maker reports earnings on Wednesday, and traders/investors are buying the stock higher into the announcement. TSLA accelerated to the upside today, making new all-time highs on a 9.07% gain.
First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) has been another focus within that highly-shorted group, and the company reported earnings after the bell today. After gaining 3.67% in today’s session, the company fell short of EPS expectations but is still trading almost another 2% higher after-hours.
Disclosure: Marc Sperling is long MBI, GS, AMGN, AGU, FB, KERX, C, FFIV, AMPE, CMG, TBT, CF, BBRY, MCP, FAS, FIO, CRM, ANTH, INTC, SHOS. Long calls in the following stocks: AAPL, FSLR, LNKD, GMCR, CF, EXPE, GS, GNRC, FB, AWAY, VHC, BIDU, BBRY, TBT, MCP, ZNGA, AMGN. Short SPY. Long puts in GLD.
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