Global markets enjoyed a day of big bounces! After last week's global slump, markets jumped today encouraged by Europe $1 trillion rescue package. For the US stock market, by the end of the first 30 minutes, most leader stocks were up by more than +5%!! Techs were especially strong with Nasdaq gaining more than +109 points! BIDU added a whopping $55 to close almost back to the $700 level. Even GOOG saw buyers come in gaining $28.51. GOOG does have something to cheer about: its Android phone outsold AAPL's iPhones, taking 28% of the smartphone sales in Q1! Nevertheless, AAPL still jumped +7.69% today. AMZN bounced +5.05 to close above $131. SNDK enjoyed a +10.45% win, while FFIV rose +8.27%.
After the market, PCLN reported a solid quarter but disappointed in its forecast. Its shares dropped $30, or 12%, in after-hours trading. MBIA lost 9% as it posted a $1.5 billion loss.
The Dow finished up +404.71 points; SPX gained +48.85 points; Nasdaq jumped +109.03 points:
Most sectors participated in the rally today. SOXX (semiconductors) hopped almost +6%. PBW (clean energy) jumped +6.76%. XME (metals and mining) finally had a decent day, up +6.13%. Even OIH (oil services) added +3.44%. USO (oil) went up while GLD (gold) closed in the red. FXI (Chinese ADRs) rose +5.52%.
SPX
SPX added +48.85 points to close at 1159.73, just under the 1160 level. The MACD flattened.
Nasdaq
Nasdaq jumped +109.03 points to close at 2374.67. Its daily MAs and MACD slowed in their descent.
It was an impressive rally today. Things gapped up and stayed up. VIX came down to close below 30, at 28.84. Since we cashed out on our short-side plays last week, we stayed mostly in cash and were able to do some quick scalps on the long side today. While this bounce was strong, we still need to be very careful on the long side. Unless the market can get some follow-throughs on today's rally, the momentum is still on the downside. On the other hand, the global markets did drop on Europe's debt crisis. So, the question is: Can this $1 trillion rescue package get things back on track? We'll have to stay nimble this week and see how the market reads into this new development on Europe. SPX fought hard with 1160 today, but, was not able to close above it. We'll be watching this resistance level. As an additional note, at the time of this writing, Asian markets tonight are so far mixed, not seeing much follow-through, if any.
Good night and HappyTrading! ™ 
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