Updated throughout the week
Friday’s Close for January 8th, 2010
Written by: Mike Coval

Live training with live trading in Fort Myers Florida, Feb 18th and 19th. 

Just a little bit at a time, we continue to make the new highs but nothing exciting telling us the movement is string. It seems that the days the markets close up, we do so on just a few points at a time. Perhaps we all got used to the 100 point Dow gains and 30 point Nasdaq gains, now only a fraction of that but still the trend is positive.

To watch a video of Friday’s market action, along with my thoughts, Click here. The DOW closed up 11 points at 10,618 while the NASDAQ closed higher by 17 to finish the day at 2,317.

Energy: Oil is trying to make another run to the upside but caution at these levels (currently at the October resistance) might be the smarter trade. Late in the day, the price of crude futures were trading up $0.08 at $82.83 a barrel. Track the price of crude with the Oil ETF, USO.

Economic News: On Friday the Labor Department reported that U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 85,000 last month, compared with a revised 4,000 gain in November. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a payroll decrease of just 10,000. The November figure originally showed an 11,000 drop in payrolls.

Additionally, the share of the population that is under-employed -- either unemployed or only able to find part-time work -- grew in December to 17.3%, up from 17.2% in November.

Services: Apollo Group, APOL, fell $3.44 on heavy selling after the company received a Department of Education report regarding concerns about its handling of federal funding. Apollo reported late Thursday that its profit surpassed Street expectations. Another drop on Monday would indicate continued institutional selling giving the stock a downside target of $55.00.

Basic Materials: Alcoa, AA gained $0.42 on active trading and closing at the high for the day as it prepares for next week’s earnings numbers. Alcoa has a history of outperforming expectations and has the privilege of leading off earnings season. I’m sure some active investor can find a bullish trade here?

Technology: Intel, INTC also closed near its high for the day and is also reporting earnings next week, (Thursday). The company is expected to show profits rallied from the year-ago quarter and also post an increase in overall sales. If the company does announce strong numbers, you can expect it to give a boost to the tech sector as a guide to the rest of the earnings season. A break above $21.00 should indicate a buy.