Pac Man Chomps The Short Sellers

There was a major short squeeze today as the breakout to All-time highs finally came.  Like pac man the market chomped it way right through them rocketing the market higher..  All short stops were no doubt just above the 2105.75 I had mentioned in my daily email yesterday in the S&P 500 E-Mini Futures.  Soon as that target went the All-Time High in the Index was sure to follow.

Looks like we may be in the throws of a natural small pull-back here,  But, I expect another push higher by Tuesday,  Apple earnings are out after the close on Monday and although expectation is always high, they somehow still manage to surprise to the upside.  So, possibly small steps sideways tomorrow.

This trend we entered since the 26th March has been the choppiest market action I have possibly ever encountered, but thankfully we have managed to hold on to break to new highs.  Onwards and upwards from here, but maybe not much longer before another significant pull-back.

Market News:

U.S. stocks closed near highs on Thursday, with the Nasdaq at a record, as investors cheered corporate reports.

The Nasdaq Composite outperformed the major indices to set a new, all-time closing record, topping the previous high of 5,048.62 set in March 2000.

The Federal Reserve meets next Tuesday and Wednesday but will not hold a press conference.

New home sales for March came in weaker than expected, at 481,000 in March, versus the 510,000 unitestimate.

The 11.4 percent decline follows a 7.8 percent month-on-month jump in February that brought sales to a near-seven-year high of 539,000, according to Robert Kuenzel at Daiwa Capital Markets.

Weekly jobless claims showed an increase of 1,000 to 295,000.

Manufacturing PMI showed that growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector dipped more than expected in April, with factory activity showing the slowest momentum since January, according to financial data firm Markit.

The preliminary U.S.Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 54.2 in April from the final March read of 55.7. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the April figure would come in at 55.5.

Manufacturing data overseas was also weak. HSBC’s preliminary reading of China’s factory activity for April came in at 49.2, compared with a Reuters forecast for a 49.6 print.

Markit’s German flash composite PMI, which tracks manufacturing and services activity, fell to 54.2 in April from an eight-month peak of 55.4 in March.

The negative data weighed on European equities but sent Asian stocks in Tokyo and Seoul to multi-year highs. Despite the PMI figures that indicated contraction in China, the Shanghai Composite ended mildly higher, up 0.4 percent, while the Hang Seng closed down 0.4 percent.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for a speeding up of work to conclude a reform-for-cash deal with euro zone creditors to keep his country afloat after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday. Both sides called the discussions constructive.

Friday

Earnings: Biogen, AstraZeneca, American Airlines Group, Cabot Oil and Gas, State Street, Xerox, A.O. Smith, Tyco

8:30 am: Durable goods

News Source: CNBC