It doesn't take much to push stock futures higher ahead of the open in the current market environment. This morning, a good earnings report from Dell is enough.
Dell had caused some concern when they delayed their earnings report last week due to an investigation into their accounting practices. It turned out there wasn't much to that. After the close yesterday, Dell reported earnings six cents ahead of expectations. The company is receiving numerous positive comments from brokers this morning. That is by far the biggest news, and it is enough to set a positive tone for the whole market.
New claims for unemployment for the week ended November 18 rose to 321,000 from 309,000 the week before. A one-week bounce like that isn't statistically significant. The four-week moving average is at 317,000 and well within the range of the past half year. The labor market remains strong.
The stock market tends to have an upward bias the days around Thanksgiving. The Friday after Thanksgiving is sometimes a day trader's dream. Volume is light, and high volatility stocks can be pushed hard. Given the underlying bullish bias this year, it would not be surprising to see some such action today or Friday.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
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