By Robert W. Colby, Senior Analyst TraderPlanet.com

Seasonal tendencies are mildly Bullish over the next several days ahead.

NASDAQ 100 index price made another new 6-year high.

Technology stock sector price made a new 6-year high and relative strength made a new 2-year high.

Financial stock sector relative strength broke down to a new 8 week low.

Foreign stocks rose again, even though the U.S. dollar stabilized somewhat.


On Wednesday, major stock price indices gapped higher on the open and held early gains into the close. Breadth confirmed the indices’ price strength: Advances/Declines and Up/Down Volume ratios were about 2 to 1 Bullish. Also, New Highs outnumbered the New Lows. Short-term momentum indicators turned upward.

The stock market absorbed normal profit taking with minimal damage and with resilience this week. That indicates underlying demand for stocks.

Spotlight on event stocks: Here is a stock screen I designed to pick out potential “event” stocks, both Bullish and Bearish. Sometimes, stocks with large changes in price and volume are revealed to be deal stocks, sooner or later, or are the subject of some other extraordinary events, positive or negative.

Bullish Stocks: Rising Price and Rising Volume
% Price Change, Symbol, Name

7.67% , BSC , BEAR STEARNS
9.36% , GM , GENERAL MOTORS
7.59% , WOR , WORTHINGTON INDS
6.47% , F , FORD MOTOR
4.92% , WFMI , Whole Foods Market Inc
0.46% , XSD , Semiconductor SPDR, XSD
6.69% , GNTX , Gentex Corporation
0.93% , IXP , Telecommunications Global, IXP
3.93% , MKC , MCCORMICK
4.45% , PWER , POWER ONE
4.75% , GT , GOODYEAR TIRE
0.99% , FPX , IPOs, First Tr IPOX-100, FPX
0.84% , RPG , Growth S&P 500, RPG
1.37% , EWP , Spain Index, EWP
1.13% , MXIM , MAXIM INTEGRATED
2.17% , PBW , WilderHill Clean Energy PS, PBW
0.99% , VXF , Extended Mkt VIPERs, VXF
2.80% , SCHW.O , CHARLES SCHWAB
3.87% , PLL , PALL
5.29% , RHT , Red Hat Inc.
6.36% , XMSR , XM Satellite R
4.27% , SIRI , Sirius Satellite
3.31% , MRVL , MARVELL TECHNOLOGY
0.34% , IXC , Energy Global, IXC
0.76% , DSV , Value Small Cap DJ, DSV
1.05% , PGJ , China LargeCap Growth G D H USX PS, PGJ
1.10% , EWA , Australia Index, EWA
1.56% , EMN , EASTMAN CHEM
3.17% , NOV , NATIONAL OILWELL VARC0
2.19% , KCE , Capital Markets KWB ST, KCE
3.97% , AA , ALCOA
5.36% , ODP , OFFICE DEPOT
0.98% , PTE , Telecommunications & Wireless, PTE
1.17% , PEJ , Leisure & Entertainment, PEJ
0.77% , ELV , Value Large Cap DJ, ELV
0.73% , JKJ , SmallCap Core iS M, JKJ
2.21% , SBUX , STARBUCKS
0.58% , IYT , Transportation Av DJ, IYT
3.54% , VC , VISTEON
3.33% , IACI , IAC/INTERACTIVCORP
2.49% , SNDK , SanDisk Corporation
0.67% , VHT , Health Care VIPERs, VHT
4.05% , PMTC.O , PARAMETRIC
1.42% , BDH , Broadband H, BDH
0.69% , VBK , Growth SmallCap VIPERs, VBK
0.87% , JKK , Growth SmallCap iS M, JKK
0.48% , JKI , Value MidCap iS M, JKI
3.64% , PX , PRAXAIR
1.82% , LEH , LEHMAN BROS HLDG
0.45% , VUG , Growth VIPERs, VUG

Bearish Stocks: Falling Price and Rising Volume
% Price Change, Symbol, Name

-5.85% , NEM , NEWMONT MINING
-2.68% , SLM , SLM CORP
-4.23% , RHI , ROBERT HALF
-3.11% , ALTR , ALTERA
-2.40% , XLNX , XILINX
-7.99% , PHM , PULTE HOMES
-3.06% , JBL , JABIL CIRCUIT
-2.25% , ZION , ZIONS
-1.84% , NBR , NABORS
-3.05% , NVLS , NOVELLUS SYS
-2.56% , ABK , AMBAC FINL GRP
-1.90% , LRCX , LAM RESEARCH CORP
-1.78% , BAX , BAXTER INTL
-1.13% , MI , MARSHAL & ILSLEY
-1.37% , MZZ , Short 200% MidCap 400 PS, MZZ
-1.40% , CEG , CONSTELL ENERGY
-1.64% , USB , US BANCORP
-2.52% , AMCC , APPLD MICRO CIRC
-0.39% , NY , Value LargeCap NYSE 100 iS, NY
-2.10% , ADI , ANALOG DEVICES
-0.51% , MER , MERRILL LYNCH
-1.55% , SLB , SCHLUMBERGER
-0.81% , CAH , CARDINAL HEALTH
-0.95% , ZMH , ZIMMER HLDGS
-2.30% , SUN , SUNOCO
-0.42% , PSI , Semiconductors, PSI
-1.54% , JNPR , Juniper Networks Inc
-2.07% , MNST , MONSTER WORLDWID
-1.71% , KLAC , KLA TENCOR
-0.69% , EOG , EOG RESOURCES
-0.64% , DELL , DELL
-0.79% , IIH , Internet Infrastructure H, IIH
-0.51% , EWM , Malaysia Index, EWM
-0.49% , IGW , Semiconductor iS GS, IGW
-0.64% , ABT , ABBOTT LABS
-1.44% , PNC , PNC FINL SVC
-0.46% , GLD , Gold Shares S.T., GLD
-1.70% , NOC , NORTHROP GRUMMAN
-1.57% , AMAT , APPLIED MATERIAL
-0.55% , BHI , BAKER HUGHES
-1.98% , FHN , FIRST TENNESSEE
-0.92% , BRCM , BROADCOM STK A
-0.53% , OIH , Oil Services H, OIH
-1.49% , CIEN.O , CIENA
-0.48% , SH , Short 100% S&P 500, SH
-0.54% , IR , INGER RAND
-0.63% , SOV , SOVEREIGN BANC
-0.86% , VLO , VALERO ENERGY
-3.34% , TJX , TJX
-0.55% , XTO , XTO ENERGY INC

Sectors: among the 9 major U.S. sectors, all 9 rose.
Major Sectors Ranked for the Day
% Price Change, Sector

1.43% Consumer Discretionary
1.25% Materials
0.69% Consumer Staples
0.69% Industrial
0.63% Technology
0.57% Health Care
0.49% Utilities
0.28% Energy
0.03% Financial

Looking beyond the daily fluctuation to the major trends (listed in order of relative strength):

Energy (XLE) Bullish. Short-term price corrections are normal. Longer term, both price and relative strength made new all-time highs on 9/21/07. XLE has been strong compared to the S&P since 3/12/03. Overweight.

Technology (XLK) Bullish.
Price made a new 6-year high on 9/26/07 and relative strength made a new 2-year high. Long term, XLK has been relatively strong compared to the S&P since its low on 7/24/06. Overweight.

Materials (XLB) Bullish.
The relative strength trend strongly outperformed since the price shakeout low on 8/16/07, and the long term trend has been Bullish since 9/27/2000.

Industrial (XLI) Bullish.
Relative strength made a new 5-week high on 9/21/07. Price made a new 8-week high on 9/19/07. Longer term, XLI has been relatively strong compared to the S&P since 8/9/06. Overweight.

Utilities (XLU) Market Weight.
Price made a new 8-week high on 9/19/07, but relative strength has lagged.

Consumer Staples (XLP) Bearish.
This defensive sector’s relative strength made a new 7-week low on 9/19/07. Underweight.

Health Care (XLV) Bearish.
Relative strength turned down on 4/19/07 and made a new 5-year low on 7/19/07, thereby confirming a major downtrend. Underweight.

Consumer Discretionary (XLY) Bearish.
Price hit a new 10-month low on 8/16/07. Relative strength made another new 6-year low on 9/25/07. Underweight.

Financial (XLF) Bearish.
Relative strength broke down to a new 8 week low, and the long-term trend of relative strength has been down since 2/20/07. Underweight.

Foreign stocks rose again, even though the U.S. dollar stabilized somewhat. The EFA (the EAFE, international developed country stock markets, ex the U.S. and Canada) has substantially outperformed long term, since the Bull market started in 2002, and the secular trend is probably still Bullish.

NASDAQ relative strength moved upward each of the past 5 trading days. Longer term, NASDAQ has outperformed for more than a year, since 8/8/06.

NASDAQ 100 index price made another new 6-year high.

Growth stocks outperformed Value stocks since 9/19/07. Also, Growth has outperformed Value since 8/8/06. The main trend is Bullish.

Small Caps substantially underperformed Large Caps since 4/19/06. The main trend is Bearish.

Crude Oil rebounded in more active trading. Previously, oil had a typical 3-day minor correction, following the new high on 9/20/07. Note that the U.S. OIL FUND ETF (AMEX: USO) is not a pure play on Crude Oil. The longer-term trends for both remain Bullish.

The Energy stock sector underperformed the USO and the SPY for 2 days. But that is not significant in the big picture. Longer term, since 3/12/03, the stocks in the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) have significantly outperformed crude oil as a commodity, as well as the S&P 500. So, the Relative Strength major trend is Bullish for the energy stocks.

Gold consolidated over the past 4 days.
Previously, Gold broke out to a new 28-year high on 9/20/07. The Gold Trust ETF (NYSE: GLD) confirmed by closing above its top on 5/12/06 at 72.26. These major trends remain Bullish.

Silver rose strongly since 9/13/07 but still has underperformed Gold since 12/7/06. The main trend remains relatively Bearish for iShares Silver Trust (AMEX: SLV).

The Gold Miners ETF (GDX) underperformed Gold since 9/20/07. Previously, GDX outperformed Gold from 8/16/07 to 9/20/07. Before 8/16/07, Gold Mining stocks substantially underperformed both Gold and the S&P 500 for more than 20 years. I usually give the longer term trend the benefit of the doubt in such cases.

Inflation expectations indicate a downside correction since 9/20/07.

U.S. Treasury Bond prices appear to be consolidating recent losses. Bonds lack momentum and volume and, therefore, are not impressive. Long-term, it seems possible that the iShares Lehman 20+ Year U.S. Treasury Bond ETF (AMEX: TLT) ended a normal oversold bounce in a Bearish trend on 9/10/07. Bonds remain reactive to news about the credit crisis: the worse the credit crisis, the higher the Bond prices; the better the credit crisis, the lower the Bond prices.

U.S. dollar stabilized somewhat, but remains Bearish.
It broke down to another new 34-year low on 9/25/07.

Daily Rankings of Major Global Markets, Ranked from Strongest to Weakest of the Day:

2.13% Broker Dealers
2.04% Brazil
1.67% Chemicals
1.43% Consumer Discretionary
1.40% South Korea
1.39% Singapore
1.37% Spain
1.33% Airlines
1.31% Paper
1.25% Materials
1.19% AMEX Composite
1.16% Taiwan
1.10% Australia
0.99% Netherlands
0.96% Hong Kong
0.87% Insurance
0.86% Japan
0.84% Hospitals
0.76% Russell 2000
0.75% S&P Mid Caps
0.74% Network
0.72% Dow Industrial
0.72% S&P Small Caps
0.70% Italy
0.69% Consumer Staples
0.69% Industrial
0.67% Dow Utilities
0.67% Dow Composite
0.65% Value Line
0.65% Health Care
0.64% Retailers
0.63% Technology
0.63% Health Care Products
0.58% Nasdaq Composite
0.58% Russell 3000
0.57% Dow Transports
0.57% Health Care
0.56% Nasdaq 100
0.56% Russell 1000
0.56% Disk Drives
0.55% Wilshire 5000
0.54% S&P 500
0.50% S&P 100
0.49% Utilities
0.49% Biotechs
0.47% NYSE Composite
0.47% REITs
0.46% Drugs
0.44% Germany
0.38% Mexico
0.35% DOT
0.34% Sweden
0.33% Australian Dollar
0.30% Canada
0.28% Energy
0.28% United Kingdom
0.27% Natural Gas
0.27% US Dollar Index
0.21% Internet
0.15% Computer Tech
0.13% Austria
0.11% France
0.08% Oil
0.04% Switzerland
0.03% Financial
0.00% Oil Services
-0.02% Hardware
-0.04% Banks
-0.05% Commodity Related
-0.07% Euro Index
-0.08% 30Y T-Bond
-0.16% British Pound
-0.19% Belgium
-0.30% Swiss Franc
-0.31% Semiconductors
-0.38% Canadian Dollar
-0.51% Malaysia
-0.86% Japanese Yen
-1.72% Gold Mining