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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (3285)	5/25/2002 12:59:41 AM
From: Donald Wennerstrom	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95616

For reference, here is the Tech Stock summary by Briefing.com for Friday's activity and some support and resistance levels for next week. <<Tech Stock Analysis Updated: 28-May-02 General Commentary So the markets went into the long holiday weekend on the sluggish side. For the week, the Nasdaq dropped 80 points or about 4.6% on what amounted to a dearth of catalysts to drive any buy interest. Not particularly surprising after the 8% advance in the prior week -- but also somewhat disappointing for market bulls seeking follow through on the impressive initial move. While the plurality of data continues to point towards a steadily improving economy, it appears many investors may be holding out for more definitive signals. Unfortunately, looking towards the week ahead the markets are once again relatively light on catalysts -- at least "before-the-fact" identifiable catalysts. On the economic front, moderately notable reports include Consumer Confidence, which is set for release Tuesday morning, and the Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI), which is due out Thursday morning. That's about as exciting as it gets, because the companies scheduled to report earnings next week carry little in the way of broad market implications. From a technical perspective, we've been favoring a near-term negative bias which has proven to be the correct view. Yet it's also worth mentioning that the recent slide has yet to inflict real technical damage on the strong initial 8% rise. On a closing basis, the Nasdaq has managed to hold important support at 1652 which represents the bottom of a gap created on May 14th. On an intraday basis, the index has also held an important support point at 1637 which represents a 62% retracement of the 8% rally. Looking forward, that band of support between 1637 and 1652 will be something to have an eye on. So long as it holds on a closing basis, traders are likely to start looking for opportunities on the long side. If that scenario proves true, look for modest upside resistance at 1673 followed by more significant areas at 1697/1700 and the index' 50-day simple moving average at 1744. Conversely, if 1637/1652 should fail, the very near-term outlook will once again favor additional downside. Notable support points on failure are evident at 1600 initially, followed by the May 7th closing low at 1573. As one final point -- Friday marked the third consecutive session in which buy interest picked in the final hour. Without making too much of it, this is a slightly bullish signal as professionals tend to favor placing larger orders towards the end of the day. Stay tuned for whether this signals a near-term oversold condition or merely serves as an interesting anomaly in a thinly traded market. Mike Ashbaugh>>