NASDAQ Closes Just off its Highs as Volume Jumps

Another solid price performance for the NASDAQ as volume came in higher.  Over on the New York Stock Exchange volume began higher, but at the end of the day traders simply didn’t were not there to push volume higher.  Both exchanges saw a huge surge of volume at the open as stocks gapped higher, but the level of buyers simply didn’t carry through the day.  Again, it would have been ideal for the volume to carry through to the close, but the action is still positive.

The US dollar index enjoyed a tremendous amount of support today.  Continuing worries of the European Union nations, especially Greece has traders and investors fleeing the Euro into the US dollar.  In December many pundits were calling for a market decline with a rising dollar.  Not the case today as we saw the major US indexes close near their highs.  At this point, regardless of what the US dollar is doing we must continue to pay attention to individual stocks and how they are performing.  At this point, without any distribution since the most recent low this market appears to want to move higher.

Another interesting development today was the put/call ratio at the start of the day.  Put buyers certainly were out today as the put/call ratio started the day at 1.51.  They did; however, back off by the end of the day as the put/call ratio ended the day at .93.  It simply shows a bit of nervousness in the market where traders are seeking protection.

The market is getting a little ahead of itself here in the short-term.  As I mentioned last night’s market commentary the number of stocks over 20dma is nearing 70%.  By all means, it doesn’t mean this uptrend is over it simply illustrates that we may see the market take a breathier.  Will it, unfortunately I do not have a crystal ball.  However, it would be quite healthy for the market to have a few days of lighter volume sell-offs.  In the meantime, do not chase extended stocks as it will cause you to be shaken out of otherwise good stocks.

We continue to see positive action in plenty of the stocks we are tracking.