Economic Calendar: http://huntforthenext10bagger.com/economic-calendar

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Stocks to watch: Campbell Soup, Qihoo
Acquity Group shares set to surge after Accenture deal http://huntforthenext10bagger.com/stockearnings

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Stock rally’s breadth is a sign of strength, froth
Number of stocks hitting 52-week highs recalls pre-correction levels
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Stock indexes rallying to new highs have put investors on alert for a correction. Now they have something else to worry about: Too many individual stocks touching highs.

The S&P 500 Index (SNC:SPX) rose 2.1% last week to close at a record of 1,667.47 Friday, its 16th record close this year. Similarly, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI:DJIA) rose 1.6% on the week to 15,354.40, its 21st record of the year. The major benchmarks, including the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:COMP) , have made a nearly unchecked 16%-17% gain for the year. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-rallys-breadth-is-a-sign-of-strength-froth-2013-05-19

It’s not just the indexes that are stretching for the stratosphere.

Also in the past week, more than half the stocks on the S&P 500 touched new 52-week highs, with 141 of those occurring on Friday alone, according to an analysis of FactSet data. Another 128 companies reached new 52-week highs earlier in the week.

“The number of people I’ve heard justifying the valuation has been mind boggling,” said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. “The complacency is now incredible but nobody knows what the catalyst will be for a setback.”

The CBOE Volatility Index (MDE:VIX) , or so-called “fear index” closed down nearly 5% at 12.44 Friday, its lowest close since mid-April. The index has fallen 31% year to date, and current levels seem more at home in 2004 to 2007 than any other time in the last 10 years.

Optimism, whether blind or not, is so rampant, short sellers are particularly miserable. Some of the most-heavily shorted stocks are outperforming the S&P 500.

“The bulls don’t have to try too hard because previous bearish forces are adding fuel to the fire, propelling the market higher,” Wilkinson said.

What has been missing from this rally is volume, owing to the slow grind of stocks higher, he said. Volume is about 14% lighter this May from the year ago period, according to Barclays. Similarly, second-quarter volume is nearly 9% off from last year.

Investment strategists often like to see a rally shared by a wide number of stocks. This breadth should give support to further gains, the thinking goes. But such widespread fortune has also been the precursor to pullbacks.

On Wednesday, 538 stocks on the NYSE reached 52-week highs, the largest number since Nov. 2, 2010, according to Jonathan Krinsky, chief technical market analyst at Miller Tabak,

Krinsky cautions that the last time there were that many 52-week highs on one day, the market experienced a 4.5% correction.

Similarly, surges of 600 or more NYSE-listed companies hitting 52-week highs in April 2010 preceded a 16% correction, which included the “flash crash” of that May, and a day of 600-plus NYSE stocks reaching 52-week highs on Oct. 3, 1997 — when the S&P 500 was up 33% for the year — was followed by a 13% decline over the next few weeks.

“While a high reading of new 52-week highs should hardly be considered bearish, we simply want to highlight that a ‘surge’ in the reading is not necessarily the most bullish indicator either, especially following a sustained advance,” Krinsky said in a recent note.

Stock prices near record highs. But are they overpriced?

The real question then becomes whether stocks are overvalued or not. Here, data on one popular measure—price-to-earnings ratios—has something for both the bulls and the bears.

The S&P 500’s forward 12-month P/E ratio is 14.4, according to John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet. While that’s higher than the 5-year average of 12.9 and the 10-year average of 14.1, it’s less than the 15-year average of 16.5.

But even that might be misleading. Back on Oct. 9, 2007, when the S&P 500 hit a record high before the financial crisis, the forward P/E ratio was 15.2, below the 5- and 10-year averages of 15.7 and 18.6, respectively, Butters said.

Relatively low valuations are mostly the product of high profit margins, cautions Russ Koesterich, global head of investment strategy for iShares at Blackrock. While both forward and trailing price-to-earnings ratios for large-cap stocks are below long-term averages, corporate profits currently make up about 10% of U.S. GDP, compared with a long term average of 8%.

“There’s the implicit assumption that margins will remain elevated, Koesterich said. “If you think margins will revert to normal then some of those earnings are not sustainable.”

FOMC minutes on deck

This week, attention will once again fall on the Federal Reserve as minutes from the central bank’s last Federal Open Market Committee are released. While the Fed has stated it will more or less stay the course with its $85-billion-a-month in asset purchases, stocks are setting new highs even as the call for scaling those purchases back has been gaining momentum.

Miller Tabak’s Wilkinson said the market appears to have a grasp of what the Fed is trying to do with quantitative easing and that gradual improvements in employment and housing are giving the economy enough inertia to more forward on its own soon.

“When you get a child riding a bike with the training wheels on and they don’t need them, it looks a bit silly,” Wilkinson said.

Also, low inflation below the Fed’s 2% target gives the Fed a lot of latitude in which to act, said Blackrock’s Koesterich. The real question, he said, is how investors act when the Fed starts taking it’s foot off the gas.

Earnings season winds to a close

Next week will also see the last of the Dow industrials reporting earnings along with much of the rest of the S&P 500.

So far, 463 companies in the S&P 500 have reported first quarter earnings. Of those, 70% have topped Wall Street estimates for earnings, while only 43% have surpassed estimates on revenue, according to FactSet’s Butters.

More than 20 S&P 500 firms will report this week including Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE:CPB)  , Best Buy Co. (NYSE:BBY)  , Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT)  , TJX Cos. (NYSE:TJX)  , Lowe’s Co. (NYSE:LOW)  , Staples Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS)  , Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT)  , Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS)  , and Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:SHLD) .

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD)  and Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ)  are the final two Dow components that will report for this season.

Biggest % Gainers OTC 5/17 close:

Top OTC Volume Movers 5/17 close:

Gold sinks for seventh session in a row
Gold futures have declined by $109 an ounce in last seven sessions
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold futures slumped on Friday for a seventh consecutive session, as the dollar index jumped to nearly three-year highs and U.S. data raised optimism about the economic recovery.

Gold for June delivery (CNS:GCM3) settled down $22.20 to $1,364.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal has fallen by $109 in the last seven sessions, with gains for U.S. stocks and the dollar among the factors that have curbed gold’s attraction for investors.

“Over the last week, you’ve had an appreciating dollar, so I think that’s weighed on gold prices,” said Carlos Sanchez, director of asset management at CPM Group.

Dollar strength weighs on dollar-denominated commodities such as gold since it makes them more expensive for other currency holders. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-heads-for-seventh-straight-loss-2013-05-17

U.S. stocks notch records, fourth week of gains
Charles Schwab advises clients to limit gold holdings to 5% or less
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks on Friday advanced to a fourth weekly gain, with both the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 at all-time closes, after data cast a positive spin on the economy.
The Conference Board’s leading economic index rebounded in April from a downwardly revised reading in March. Separately, the initial May reading of the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters consumer-sentiment index jumped more than expected, according to news reports.

“Certainly economic data support the market rising, and there is still a huge element related to quantitative easing for sure,” Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab, said of ongoing monetary easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

That easing, which has involved three rounds of bond buying by the Fed, along with better-than-projected corporate earnings, has fueled a bull run, which entered a fifth year in March.

“We may have been in a bull market even if there was no quantitative easing and interest rates were normalized, but we would have had a far worse recession than we had,” Frederick said.
Up 146% from a dozen-year low in 2009, the S&P 500 (SNC:SPX) is up nearly 17% for the year so far.

On Friday, the S&P 500 climbed 17 points, or 1%, to 1,667.47, with energy leading gains and consumer staples the worst performing of its 10 sectors. The index rose 2% for the week.

Equities retreated Thursday after a Fed official indicated the central bank might begin tapering back on its asset purchases should the economy continue to improve.

“When the Fed does finally make a statement, I think the market will certainly pull back, and it has room. Geez, we could have a 15% correction and only be back at where we started the year,” said Frederick.

Rising 1.6% for the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI:DJIA) rose 121.18 points on Friday to 15,354.40, with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) leading blue-chip gains. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-rise-toward-fourth-week-of-gains-2013-05-17?link=MW_home_latest_news

Biggest % Gainers OTC 5/16 close:

Top OTC Volume Movers 5/16 close:

~Out Of Town til Monday! Will still try to post scans @ EOD. Take care & Good Luck

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

U.S. jobless claims jump to six-week high
Sharp drop over past month erased, but no ‘sequester’ effects seen
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people who applied last week for new unemployment benefits surged to the highest level in a month and a half, indicating the U.S. labor market is still not healing fast enough to rapidly bring down the nation’s jobless rate.
Initial jobless claims climbed by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 360,000 in the week ended May 11, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected claims to rise to 330,000 from a revised 328,000 in the prior week. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-jobless-claims-jump-to-six-week-high-2013-05-16?dist=beforebell

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Stock futures fall as jobless claims rise
Gold tumbles further as dollar advances
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures shed modest gains to turn mostly lower on Thursday after data had jobless claims hitting a six-week high and housing starts down to a five-month low.

The government reported jobless claims climbed by 32,000 to 360,000 last week, more than economists had projected.

Another report, also from the Labor Department, had the cost of living in April declining for a second month, with the 0.4% drop in the consumer price index coming as energy costs fell.

At the same time, figures released by the Commerce Department had housing starts slipping 16.5%, the biggest drop since February 2011. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-off-ahead-of-data-deluge-2013-05-16?dist=beforebell

2:17pm We are laying a little low Traders, back in some options.  Still accumulating medical marijuana stocks and scanning for a freshie.

Gold futures settle near a four-week low
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures fell 2% on Wednesday, as strength in the dollar, a climb in equities and continued outflows from exchange-traded funds sent prices to their lowest level in nearly four weeks. June gold (CNS:GCM3) fell $28.30 to settle at $1,396.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices settled at their lowest since April 19. “The dollar, for now, is back as the favorite safe haven,” said Jan Skoyles, head of research at The Real Asset Co., a precious-metals investment platform provider.

Macy’s, Cisco are Wednesday’s stocks to watch: http://huntforthenext10bagger.com/stockearnings

Gold, silver futures slide after Europe data
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Gold futures stayed on course for a fifth successive day of declines Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened after economic growth in France and Germany disappointed.

Gold for June delivery (CNS:GCM3) fell $13, or 0.9%, to $1,411.50 an ounce by late afternoon in Hong Kong. The futures had dropped $9.80 overnight on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, for a fourth straight day of declines. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-silver-futures-slide-after-europe-data-2013-05-15

U.S. stock futures wobble ahead of Empire, IP data
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock-index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Wednesday, after another session of record-setting moves the prior day, although investors remained cautious ahead of manufacturing, industrial production and home-builder data.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (CBE:DJM3) added 6 points to 15,181

Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (GLC:NDM3) inched up 0.75 points to 2,996.

On Tuesday, both the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 index closed at all-time highs.

“Having posted triple-digit gains, futures markets suggest the Dow is facing a modest reversion at the open, and, with the fundamentals a little more prevalent on the calendar today, there’s certainly the scope for another pause for breath, although the appetite does quite literally seem insatiable right now,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Market, in a note.

A wave of economic data will wash over U.S. markets throughout the day. The New York Fed’s Empire State index for May and the producer price index for April will hit at 8:30 a.m Eastern. After that, at 9:15 a.m. Eastern, the Fed will post industrial production numbers for April, with a drop of 0.3% expected.

An index of home builder sentiment is also on tap for 10 a.m. Eastern, with economists looking for a rise to 44 in May from 42 in the prior month, boosted by improving weather and lower lumber prices. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-slip-ahead-of-empire-state-data-2013-05-15

OTCBB Scans 5/14: http://huntforthenext10bagger.com/scans

Nasdaq Scans 5/14: http://huntforthenext10bagger.com/nasdaq-scans

Active Options 5/14: http://huntforthenext10bagger.com/active-options

Biggest % Gainers OTC 5/14 close:

Top OTC Volume Movers 5/14 close:

Gold aims for fourth session decline in a row
Platinum, palladium rise amid news of South Africa mine strike
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold prices aimed for their fourth straight session of declines on Tuesday, as strength in the dollar and a rally in U.S. equities lured investors away from the futures market.

Strong physical demand from Asia, however, was still a key support.

Gold for June delivery (CNS:GCM3) fell $5.90, or 0.4%, to $1,428.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading at a high near $1,445. Over the past three trading sessions, prices tallied a loss of 2.7%. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-prices-advance-as-dollar-pulls-lower-2013-05-14?link=MW_home_latest_news

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

U.S. stocks up; Dow may extend Tuesday streak
Dow industrial Average poised for 18th straight Tuesday rise
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks rose, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average looked to extend its win streak to an 18th consecutive Tuesday, as Wall Street adapted to the view of an improving economy, even if that growth comes at a slow pace. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-rise-with-consumer-shares-leading-2013-05-14

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Stock futures off; Plosser, import prices eyed
MADRID (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock market futures traded flat on Tuesday against a background of softer global markets, with comments from Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, who spoke of slowing asset purchases, expected to draw attention. Data due later are expected to show a fall in import prices.

Losses were pared from earlier trade. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (CBE:DJM3) fell 4 points to 15,053, while those for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (GLC:SPM3) rise 0.7 point to 1,631.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (GLC:NDM3) fell 2.25 points to 2,979.25. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-futures-lower-plosser-import-prices-eyed-2013-05-14?dist=beforebell

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Oil prices slip as IEA highlights ‘supply shock’
IEA outlook, U.S. supply data on tap
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Benchmark U.S. crude-oil futures reversed and slipped below $95 a barrel on Tuesday, after the International Energy Agency said strong oil production in the U.S. is expected to outpace the demand in high-growth emerging markets.

Crude oil for June delivery (NMN:CLM3) dropped 31 cents, or 0.3%, to $94.86 a barrel. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-higher-as-dollar-takes-a-breather-2013-05-14?dist=beforebell