- Commentary -

October 19, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Genevieve Hawkins) — The Dow broke through the 10,000 mark for a couple of days last week, following strong results from the likes of JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), but the trick is whether Wall Street can continue on an upward path.

During the week, the Dow gained 1.3%, the S&P 500 increased 1.5% and Nasdaq rose 0.8% on the back of stronger than expected earnings reports. The real driver of the current rally may be the U.S. dollar-if it weakens again, stock markets will move up to compensate for the loss.

Earnings season will pick up speed in the coming week, and investors may be looking for real trends to emerge from corporate quarterly results. The rally has been on low volume, meaning that neither bulls nor bears have had much conviction about the market’s direction. Economic reports in the coming week are due on housing starts, producer prices, and September existing home sales.

Everything points to mixed picture of the possibly ending recession: unemployment levels will remain high, foreclosures will weigh on house sales, and consumer spending will be muted. Despite this companies are beating earnings expectations and fourth quarter GDP will likely rise. It should be a mixed week for stocks as the bulls and the bears sort these matters out.

[Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=genevieve+hawkins to see more commentaries by Geneveive Hawkins.]

FirstAlert(tm) “Money Index” is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX 25 Most Actives and NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX greatest Percentage Losers and Percentage Winners (weighted against pure monetary loss/gain) indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing, as well as the general focus of the market. Of the Most Actives, last session’s trading showed 5 advancers versus 20 decliners. Volume leaders were led by Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) trading 68,375,200 shares closing at $4.59 (down 3.4%), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) trading 51,476,500 shares closing at $17.26 (down 4.6%) and General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) trading 45,023,700 shares closing at $16.08 (down 4.2%). Of last session’s Greatest Percentage Losers, stocks taking the greatest monetary losses were led by Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) trading on volume of 49,400 shares (losing $7.601 billion), Valmont Industries (NYSE: VMI) trading on volume of 405,300 shares (losing $216.6 million) and Radian Group, Inc. (NYSE: RDN) trading on volume of 1,839,600 shares (losing $124.5 million). Of last session’s Greatest Percentage Winners, stocks making the greatest monetary gains were led by U.S. Energy Corp.  (NASDAQ: USEG) trading on volume of 1,419,604 shares (gaining $48.7 million), Houston American Energy Co. (NASDAQ: HUSA) trading on volume of 77,601 shares (gaining $26.4 million) and Joes Jeans, Inc. (NASDAQ: JOEZ) trading on volume of 1,890,298 shares (gaining $18.1 million). The complete chart for today’s FirstAlert(tm) Money Index Synopsis is posted at investrend.com (http://www.investrend.com/fa-index). The FirstAlert(tm) “Money Index” is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX 25 Most Actives and NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX greatest Percentage Losers and Percentage Winners (weighted against pure monetary loss/gain) indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing, as well as the general focus of the market. Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=%22%27Money+Index%27+Synopsis for all the most recent FirstAlert(tm) “Money Index” Synopses.

The FirstAlert(tm) Economics Calendar lists No Major Economic Releases Scheduled, Treasury auctions 3&6-month bills (1 p.m.).

The FirstAlert(tm) Events Calendar showcases BMY, HURN, BAX, JEC at Incisive Media Litigation Summit; MA, WFC, DBD, NCR at SourceMedia ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum; RRC, CHK, CXG, COG at Hart Energy Developing Unconventional Gas Conference; VIRL, HDSN, LPSN, CAMP at SRA Fall Growth Stock Conference.

FirstAlert(tm) Website of the Day: http://www.foosball.com

Quote of the Day: “Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes.” John LeCarre

Today is: World Osteoporosis Day.

Happy Birthday: Jack Anderson, John le Carré, Peter Max, John Lithgow, Evander Holyfield, Ty Pennington.

Today in History: King John of England died in 1216 at Newark-on-Trent and was succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry. Ferdinand II of Aragon married Isabella of Castile in 1469, a marriage that paves the way to the unification of Aragon and Castile into a single country, Spain. Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers universities drafted in 1873 the first code of American football rules. Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, was isolated in 1943 by researchers at Rutgers University. The first Blockbuster Video store opened in 1985 in Dallas, Texas.

[FirstAlert(tm) was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information. The opinions expressed in FirstAlert(tm) do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]

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