NASDAQ poised to struggle through pre-Thansgiving slow trading

All bets are off as to how today will play out since way too many market participants will be heading out the door early if they haven't already left town. Whatever movement does occur for NASDAQ will be subject to revision if not outright reversal next week when all these people return to their desks.

 

Some activity will be focused on betting on how Black Friday  retail sales will play out. The U.S. economy is doing semi-decent, not booming enough to satisfy Wall Street, but non slumping like Europe. So, retail sales will continue to be haphazard, sometimes popping and sometimes not, even if the long-term trend is incrementally higher.

 

NASDAQ futures are up modestly, indicating a modest pop at the open, but mostly that traders aren't convinced that they know what the short-term market trend will really be with any significant degree of commitment. Whether people pile on to the pop for a bit of pre-holiday cheer or instead sell into the rally is of course a coin flip.

 

I'll continue to split my energy between incrementally and selectively taking profits and buying any outsize irrational dips of quality momentum stocks.

 

I haven't been thrilled with HP (HPQ) in recent years, so I haven't decided whether there is a play there on their split.

 

-- Jack Krupansky