By Robert W. Colby, Senior Analyst TraderPlanet.com

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

Consumer Discretionary relative strength made another new 6-year low.

U.S. dollar broke down to another new 34-year low.

Foreign stocks soared as the U.S. dollar crumbled.


On Thursday, major stock price indices gapped higher on the open and added to early gains by the close. NYSE breadth confirmed the price indices’ strength: Advances/Declines, Up/Down Volume, and New Highs/New Lows ratios were about 2 to 1 Bullish. Short-term momentum indicators moved further upward.

The stock marker absorbed 4 days of normal profit taking with minimal damage and with resilience this week. That indicates underlying demand for stocks. In addition, seasonal tendencies are mildly Bullish in days ahead. The main trend remains Bullish.

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

5.77% , DISH , EchoStar Communications Corporation
6.17% , WYNN , Wynn Resorts L
4.57% , MYL , MYLAN LABS
3.12% , CECO , CAREER EDUCATION CORP
0.38% , KLD , LargeCap Blend Socially Responsible iS, KLD
6.29% , MCO , MOODYS CORP
2.18% , ITF , Japan LargeCap Blend TOPIX 150, ITF
3.49% , EMR , EMERSON ELECTRIC
4.31% , LXK , LEXMARK INTL STK A
3.24% , WEN , WENDYS INTL
3.49% , SAF , SAFECO
0.43% , JKF , Value LargeCap iS M, JKF
2.07% , HUM , HUMANA
1.28% , MO , ALTRIA GROUP
2.26% , ERIC.O , LM Ericsson Telephone Company
1.26% , EFV , Value EAFE MSCI EFV
5.67% , MU , MICRON TECH
0.75% , NYC , LargeCap Blend NYSE Composite iS, NYC
3.38% , CTX , CENTEX
2.62% , PRU , PRUDENTIAL FINL
0.30% , IYW , Technology DJ US, IYW
2.05% , EWS , Singapore Index, EWS
2.48% , EWD , Sweden Index, EWD
4.75% , MHP , MCGRAW HILL
2.57% , KBH , KB HOME
2.90% , PMCS , PMC SIERRA
2.49% , DHI , D.R. HORTON, DHI
2.13% , ADRE , Emerging 50 BLDRS, ADRE
0.79% , ANDW , ANDREW
1.21% , WMB , WILLIAMS
2.35% , NIHD , NII Holdings, Inc.
0.73% , IWS , Value MidCap Russell, IWS
4.30% , MBI , MBIA
1.02% , PIC , Insurance, PIC
2.89% , CSX , CSX
1.46% , XHB , Homebuilders SPDR, XHB
2.70% , APA , APACHE
1.62% , AVP , AVON
1.19% , IEV , Europe 350 S&P Index, IEV
0.53% , IWW , Value LargeCap Russell 3000, IWW
2.04% , SSCC , Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation
1.68% , ITT , ITT INDS
0.95% , ADRU , Europe 100 BLDRS, ADRU
2.24% , AMP , Ameriprise Financial Inc.
1.44% , SYK , STRYKER
1.83% , ETN , EATON
0.87% , FLR , FLUOR
0.83% , EWO , Austria Index, EWO
0.94% , EWM , Malaysia Index, EWM
3.57% , DISCA , Discovery Holding Co.

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

-3.63% , PAYX , PAYCHEX
-2.60% , SBUX , STARBUCKS
-0.72% , MYY , Short 100% MidCap 400, MYY
-3.42% , AMD , ADV MICRO DEV
-1.71% , TXT , TEXTRON
-2.64% , UIS , UNISYS
-2.49% , BIIB , BIOGEN IDEC
-1.56% , HMA , HEALTH MGMT STK A
-0.62% , UTH , Utilities H, UTH
-2.84% , THC , TENET HEALTHCARE
-0.62% , VPU , Utilities VIPERs, VPU
-1.90% , VC , VISTEON
-1.56% , TYC , TYCO INTL
-0.18% , IYZ , Telecom DJ US, IYZ
-2.54% , FDO , FAMILY DLR STRS
-1.97% , BSX , BOSTON SCIENT
-0.81% , WPI , WATSON PHARM
-1.49% , HES , AMERADA HESS
-0.53% , GTW , GATEWAY
-4.05% , SUN , SUNOCO
-0.61% , FLEX , Flextronics International Ltd
-1.12% , BBBY , BED BATH BEYOND
-1.04% , KLAC , KLA TENCOR
-1.04% , IPG , INTERPUBLIC GRP
-1.61% , YHOO , YAHOO
-0.92% , BMC , BMC SOFTWARE
-1.18% , PETM , PETsMART Inc
-1.03% , SYMC , SYMANTEC
-0.64% , ACV , Alberto-Culver Co.
-0.51% , AN , AUTONATION
-1.20% , ADP , AUTOMATIC DATA
-0.37% , DDS , DILLARD STK A
-0.38% , NKE , NIKE STK B
-0.57% , DHR , DANAHER
-0.43% , MAS , MASCO
-2.78% , PPL , PPL
-0.37% , ETR , ENTERGY
-1.01% , LUV , SOUTHWEST AIRLS
-1.51% , Q , QWEST COMMUNICAT
-1.10% , WMI , WASTE MANAGEMENT
-0.13% , AT , ALLTEL
-0.71% , XLU , Utilities SPDR, XLU
-1.46% , TJX , TJX
-0.19% , XL , XL CAPITAL STK A
-1.93% , JWN , NORDSTROM
-1.38% , AYE , ALLEGHENY ENERGY
-1.47% , FPL , FPL GROUP INC
-1.89% , RSH , RADIOSHACK
-0.09% , IGT , INTL GAME TECH
-0.20% , APOL , APOLLO GROUP

Sectors: among the 9 major U.S. sectors, 6 rose and 3 fell.
Major Sectors Ranked for the Day
% Price Change, Sector

1.30% Energy
1.17% Materials
1.17% Financial
0.44% Industrial
0.39% Health Care
0.36% Consumer Staples
-0.07% Technology
-0.49% Consumer Discretionary
-0.71% Utilities

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 9/27/07. 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 as the U.S. dollar fell to new lows. 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.

NASDAQrelative strength moved upward each of the past 6 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 rose strongly. The futures are in position to challenge their previous new high set 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 outperformed the SPY for 2 days. 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 resuming its uptrend? 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 rebounded following a minor correciton.

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 broke down to another new 34-year low on 9/27/07.

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

2.59% Brazil
2.48% Sweden
2.28% Japan
2.23% Taiwan
2.08% Belgium
2.05% Singapore
1.82% Network
1.55% Oil Services
1.39% Gold Mining
1.31% Mexico
1.30% Energy
1.23% Natural Gas
1.21% France
1.19% Hong Kong
1.17% Materials
1.17% Financial
1.10% Insurance
1.06% United Kingdom
1.03% Broker Dealers
0.98% Spain
0.95% Commodity Related
0.95% Hardware
0.94% Malaysia
0.93% Canada
0.85% South Korea
0.83% S&P Mid Caps
0.83% Austria
0.80% REITs
0.80% Australia
0.77% NYSE Composite
0.76% Germany
0.73% Chemicals
0.72% Disk Drives
0.69% Italy
0.66% Netherlands
0.65% Semiconductors
0.61% Banks
0.60% Russell 2000
0.59% Australian Dollar
0.58% Value Line
0.58% British Pound
0.56% 30Y T-Bond
0.55% AMEX Composite
0.48% Wilshire 5000
0.47% Russell 3000
0.46% Russell 1000
0.45% Paper
0.44% Industrial
0.41% S&P Small Caps
0.41% Switzerland
0.39% Nasdaq Composite
0.39% S&P 500
0.39% Health Care
0.38% Nasdaq 100
0.36% Consumer Staples
0.36% Internet
0.36% Canadian Dollar
0.34% S&P 100
0.32% Dow Transports
0.25% Dow Industrial
0.19% Health Care
0.16% Hospitals
0.16% DOT
0.16% Drugs
0.16% Euro Index
0.14% Health Care Products
0.07% Dow Composite
-0.01% Computer Tech
-0.03% Oil
-0.07% Technology
-0.07% Airlines
-0.13% Biotechs
-0.16% US Dollar Index
-0.16% Japanese Yen
-0.20% Swiss Franc
-0.49% Consumer Discretionary
-0.56% Retailers
-0.68% Dow Utilities
-0.71% Utilities