Stock Market Commentary for Friday, May 6, 2005

Thursday was a second day for the market to continue settling after the FOMC announcement.  The cutting of GM (GM) and Ford (F) crediting ratings to "junk" status by S&P gave the market a bit of a negative tone, but wasn't really an unexpected surprise.  The good news was that there was virtually no profit-taking for Nasdaq, with a slight decline of only 0.43 points.

Nasdaq did manage to rise above the previous near-term intra-day peak, but actually closed lower than it, which is a moderate yellow flag.  The good news was that Nasdaq closed modestly above its opening level (by +1.42 points), and 10 points above its intra-day low.  Those are positive signs that Nasdaq is somewhat resistant to profit-taking.

The economic data was so-so, which is par for the course and not new news.

Nasdaq trading volume was barely moderate (1.79 billion shares), and breadth was slightly positive, with 1.03 gainers for each loser.

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-- Jack Krupansky