If you are looking for another reason why it is bad trading to try to pick tops, look at the charts of some of the market’s best performers. Today, Starbucks (SBUX), Chipolte Mexican Grill (CMG), and Sherwin Williams (SHW) hit all-time highs. Additionally, Apple (AAPL), Monster Beverage (MNST), Panara (PNRA), and McDonald’s (MCD) are near their all-time highs.
And if you need a reason not to pick bottoms, look at Natural Gas. Nat Gas futures saw a pop following weekly inventory numbers – sending the commodity to $2.069 – before selling pressure slammed prices back to a $1-handle. Nat Gas is higher by 0.8%. In other commodities, Crude Oil and Gold futures are higher by 0.9% to $103.60 and $1,675, respectively.
Other News and Numbers:
– EUR/USD is bid this morning, holding near the top of its range at 1.3175. The US$ Index is down 0.6% to 79.54
– Apparently, there is a rumor that Chinese GDP will be 9% for Q1, 0.6% above expectations. Chinese growth is helping equity and commodity markets
– PC Q1 worldwide sales, according to Gartner, were higher than expected, at 2%. Sales of HP (HPQ) computers were particularly strong, sending the stock up 6.4% to $24.90 today. This could validate HP CEO Meg Whitman’s decision not to gut the PC business
– Yahoo! (YHOO) is fighting activist investors, saying that Carl Icahn can serve as a director, but Daniel Loeb cannot. YHOO is up 1% today to $15.03