New price highs are the markets' way of saying, "The trend is bullish."

New price highs are the markets' way of saying, “The trend is bullish.”

The following stock price indexes made new 2-year closing price highs on Wednesday, 12/22/10:
Dow-Jones Composite
Dow-Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq 100
Nasdaq Composite
NYSE Composite
Russell 1000
Russell 2000
Russell 3000
S&P 100 Large Caps
S&P 400 Mid Caps
S&P 600 Small Caps
S&P 500 Composite
Value Line Geometric
Wilshire 5000

The following ETFs made new 2-year closing price highs on Wednesday, 12/22/10:
Consumer Discretionary SPDR, XLY
DIAMONDS , DIA
Energy SPDR, XLE
Industrial SPDR, XLI
MidCap S&P 400 SPDRs, MDY
Rydex S&P Equal Weight
S&P 100, OEF
S&P 500 ETF SPDR, SPY
Ultra S&P500 Double, SSO
Value 1000 Russell, IWD

Crude Oil and the CRB Index of commodity prices closed above 2-year closing price highs.
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Spotlight on event stocks: Here is a stock screen I designed to pick out potential event stocks, both Bullish and Bearish. Sometimes, stocks with large changes in price and volume are revealed to be deal stocks, sooner or later, or are the subject of some other extraordinary events, positive or negative.

Bullish Stocks: Rising Price and Rising Volume
Ranked by Price Change * Volume Change
% Price Change, Symbol, Name
9.09% , ODP , OFFICE DEPOT
7.13% , RF , REGIONS FINAN
5.48% , WAG , WALGREEN
4.17% , FHN , FIRST TENNESSEE
8.47% , SIRI , Sirius Satellite
2.65% , DOV , DOVER
0.85% , XLNX , XILINX
3.82% , AM , AMER GREETINGS STK A
0.45% , FDV , Value 40 Large Low P/E FT DB, FDV
3.92% , SNV , SYNOVUS
4.63% , SVU , SUPERVALU
1.89% , TBH , Telebras HOLDRS, TBH
4.09% , PHM , PULTE HOMES
2.87% , ZION , ZIONS
1.45% , RTN , RAYTHEON
0.36% , RTH , Retail H, RTH
1.18% , HIG , HARTFORD FINL
2.83% , JPM , J P MORGAN CHASE
2.87% , FITB , FIFTH THIRD BANC
0.77% , PKB , Building & Construction, PKB
3.08% , BAC , BANK OF AMERICA
3.11% , DHI , D.R. HORTON, DHI
3.00% , GNW , GENWORTH FINANCIAL
1.77% , KEY , KEYCORP
0.85% , CPWR , COMPUWARE
0.48% , PXN , Nanotech Lux, PXN
2.20% , HBAN , HUNTINGTON
1.44% , IYG , Financial Services DJ, IYG
1.00% , CBE , COOPER INDS STK A
2.18% , DVN , DEVON ENERGY
2.34% , STT , STATE STREET
0.65% , PRF , Value LargeCap Fundamental RAFI 1000, PRF
2.01% , RKH , Bank Regional H, RKH

Bearish Stocks: Falling Price and Rising Volume
Ranked by Price Change * Volume Change
% Price Change, Symbol, Name
-2.23% , TDC , Teradata Corporation, TDC
-0.29% , KLD , LargeCap Blend Socially Responsible iS, KLD
-0.26% , IYH , Healthcare DJ, IYH
-2.18% , VFC , VF
-3.08% , CTAS , CINTAS
-1.46% , VHT , Health Care VIPERs, VHT
-4.47% , VGK , European VIPERs, VGK
-5.80% , NKE , NIKE STK B
-3.14% , COH , COACH
-1.77% , IIH , Internet Infrastructure H, IIH
-2.46% , RHT , Red Hat Inc.
-2.33% , JNY , JONES APPAREL
-2.91% , JCP , JC PENNEY
-1.80% , RDC , ROWAN COMPANIES
-2.18% , GRMN , GARMIN LTD
-1.33% , FRX , FOREST LABS STK A
-1.89% , TIF , TIFFANY
-0.44% , IGV , Software, IGV
-3.12% , CIEN.O , CIENA
-1.05% , QLGC , QLOGIC
-0.76% , WPI , WATSON PHARM
-0.73% , EFX , EQUIFAX
-1.09% , XRX , XEROX
-0.17% , PJP , Pharmaceuticals, PJP
-1.00% , INTC , INTEL
-2.43% , FMCN , Focus Media, FMCN
-0.92% , IYZ , Telecom DJ US, IYZ
-1.86% , CTXS , CITRIX SYSTEMS
-0.06% , PMR , Retail, PMR
-0.76% , PWJ , Growth Mid Cap Dynamic PS, PWJ
-0.43% , SMH , Semiconductor H, SMH
-1.04% , VIS , Industrials VIPERs, VIS
-0.37% , PEJ , Leisure & Entertainment, PEJ

9 major U.S. stock sectors ranked in order of long-term relative strength:

Energy Bullish, Over Weight. The Relative Strength Ratio rose further above 12-month highs on 12/6/10 and remains bullish. Absolute price rose further above 2-year highs on 12/22/10 and remains bullish. Support 65.03, 60.96, 60.21, 57.70, 55.68, 53.22, 50.33, 48.56, 46.16, and 43.66. Resistance 69.95 and 78.10.

Consumer Discretionary Bullish, Over Weight. The Relative Strength Ratio rose above 12-year highs on 11/26/10 and remains bullish. XLY has been at the top of my sector rankings for more than a year and has outperformed substantially. Absolute price rose above 3-year highs on 12/22/10 and remains bullish. Support 37.15, 35.32, 35.02, 34.78, 33.94, 33.11, 32.66, 31.70, 29.80, 28.64, 28.21, and 26.62. Resistance 37.88, 38.25, and 39.09.

Materials Bullish, Over Weight. The Relative Strength Ratio rose above 11-month highs on 12/21/10 and remains bullish. Absolute price rose above 2-year highs on 12/21/10 and remains bullish. Support 34.20, 33.70, 32.36, 29.88, 29.43, and 27.67. Resistance 39.00, 40.15, and 41.06.

Industrial Bullish, Over Weight. The Relative Strength Ratio rose above 2-year highs on 12/16/10 and remains bullish. Absolute price rose above 2-year highs on 12/22/10 and remains bullish. Support 31.82, 31.58, 30.79, 30.51, 30.32, 29.77, and 27.67. Resistance 35.00 and 36.16.

Technology Neutral, Market Weight. The Relative Strength Ratio fell below 8-week lows on 12/16/10 and turned neutral for the secondary trend. This RS ratio rose above 8-year highs on 11/3/10, which was a bullish confirmation of the primary uptrend. Absolute price of XLK rose above 2-year highs on 11/4/10 and remains bullish. Support 23.87, 23.74, 23.64, 23.56, 22.68, 22.53, 21.60, 20.01, and 19.51. Resistance 25.32 and 25.69.

Financial Neutral, Market Weight. The Relative Strength Ratio rose above its 50-day SMA on 12/8/10, thereby turning neutral. Absolute price turned bullish as of 12/22/10 when the rising 50-day SMA crossed above the rising 200-day SMA. Support 15.39, 15.08, 14.36, 14.25, 14.20, 13.29, and 13.08. Resistance 16.13, 16.90, 17.12, 17.16, and 17.87.

Consumer Staples Bearish, Under Weight. The Relative Strength Ratio fell further below 7-month lows on 12/21/10 and remains bearish. Absolute price rose above 2-year highs on 12/16/10 and remains bullish. Support 29.10, 28.22, 28.04, 27.76, 27.63, 27.46, 26.34, 25.30, and 24.95. Resistance 30.29.

Health Care Bearish, Under Weight. The Relative Strength Ratio fell below 2-year lows on 12/9/10 and remains bearish, as it has been most of the time since peaking on 2/23/09. Thanks to a bounce over the past 3-days, absolute price of XLV is technically bullish. Support 30.14, 30.11, 29.87, 28.00, 27.49. Resistance 31.79, 32.05, 32.18, 32.42, 32.69, 33.16, 33.37 and 33.74.

Utilities Bearish, Under Weight. The Relative Strength Ratio fell below 7-month lows on 12/21/10 and remains bearish. Absolute price of XLU fell below 4-year lows on 12/21/10. Support 30.51, 29.66, 27.91, 27.44, and 25.76. Resistance 32.11 and 32.40.
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Emerging Markets Stocks ETF Relative Strength Ratio broke down below 4-month lows on 12/20/10 and remains neutral.

Foreign Stocks ETF Relative Strength Ratio broke down below 5-month lows on 11/30/10 and remains neutral.

NASDAQ Composite/S&P 500 Relative Strength Ratio rose above 9-year highs on 11/26/10 and remains bullish for the long term. This RS Ratio has been in an uptrend for nearly 2 years, since 12/2/08.

The Largest Cap S&P 100/S&P 500 Relative Strength Ratio fell below 28-year lows on 12/3/10. This RS Ratio has been trending lower since 8/3/10. Longer term, big caps have been relatively out of favor for more than 10 years, since 3/29/2000.

The Small Cap Russell 2000 Index/Large Cap Relative Strength Ratio rose above 20-year highs on 12/21/10 and remains bullish. Absolute price closed above 2-year closing price highs on 12/21/10 and remains bullish.

The S&P MidCap 400/Large Cap Relative Strength Ratio rose above 15-year highs on 12/17/10 and remains bullish. Absolute price closed above 2-year closing price highs on 12/22/10 and remains bullish.

CRB Index of commodity prices rose above 2-year highs on 12/22/20, thereby reconfirming its preexisting bullish major trend.

Crude Oil nearest futures contract price rose above 2-year highs on 12/22/20, thereby reconfirming its preexisting bullish major trend. Support 86.83, 83.55, 80.28, 80.06, 79.84, 79.25, 78.86, 72.63, 70.76, 70.35, 69.51, 68.59, 67.15, 65.05, and 64.24. Resistance 98.65 and 102.84.

Gold nearest futures contract price has been correcting and consolidating gains since it rose above previous all-time highs and confirmed a bullish major trend on 12/7/10. Support 1352.6, 1329.0, 1325.5, 1317.5, 1297.0, 1274.8, 1270.5, 1232.4, 1210.9, 1191.5, and 1155.6. Resistance: 1432.5.

Gold Mining Stocks ETF Relative Strength Ratio rose above 12-month highs on 12/6/10 and remains bullish. Absolute price of GDX rose above 4-year highs on 12/6/10.

Silver nearest futures contract price has been correcting and consolidating gains in recent days. Silver rose above previous 30-year highs on 12/7/10, thereby confirming its preexisting bullish major trend.

Silver/Gold Ratio rose above 3-year highs on 12/20/10, again confirming a bullish trend. Silver has outperformed Gold substantially since 8/20/10.

Copper nearest futures contract price rose above multi-year highs on 12/21/10, thereby reconfirming its preexisting bullish major trend. Strength in Copper suggests confidence about prospects for the world economy, while weakness in Copper suggests doubts. Support 3.9795, 3.6065, 3.3930, 3.1775, 2.9285, 2.8555, 2.8445, and 2.72. Resistance: none.

U.S. Treasury Bond nearest futures contract price appears to be consolidating losses in recent days. The bond contract fell below the lows of the previous 7 months on 12/15/10, confirming a bearish major trend. Support 118.21, 118.12, 115.15, 114.06, 113.04, and 112.15. Resistance 129.14, 129.27, 132.26, 133.00, 135.12, 135.19, 136.31, 137.31, and 142.31.

Junk/Investment-Grade Corporate Bonds Relative Strength Ratio rose above 7-month highs on 12/8/10 and remains bullish. Absolute price has been neutral/sideways since 11/23/10.

U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected / U.S. Treasury 7-10 Year Relative Strength Ratio has firmed up moderately since making a low on 8/24/10, even as absolute price of TIP has declined. A rising RS ratio implies that fixed-income investors have been selling inflation protected Notes at a relatively more subdued pace compared to the U.S. Treasury 7-10 Year Note over the past 4 months.

The U.S. dollar nearest futures contract price appears to be losing upside momentum in recent days. USD may have found resistance near its 200-day SMA, which stands near chart resistance at 81.525 to 82.02. Longer term, USD fell below 11-month lows on 11/3/10, thereby confirming a bearish long-term price trend. Support 78.01, 75.23, 74.27, and 70.80. Resistance 81.525, 82.02, 83.64, 84.73, 85.36, 86.71, 88.80, 89.22, 89.71, and 92.53.

Advisory Service Sentiment: There were 58.8% Bulls versus 20.6% Bears as of 12/22/10, according to the weekly Investors Intelligence survey of stock market newsletter advisors. The Bull/Bear ratio stands at 2.85, which is nearly two standard deviations above the long-term, 20-year mean. This is not overly excessive bullish sentiment in the second year of a bull market. Bullish Sentiment tends to rise in November and December every year. The ratio was as high as it is now or higher in Decembers of each year 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and none of these “high” readings led to bear markets. The 20-year range is 0.41 to 3.74, the median is 1.54, and the mean is 1.61.

VIX Fear Index fell below 8-month lows to 15.45 on 12/22/10, reflecting diminishing fear among options players. VIX is near its 3-year low of 15.23 set on 4/12/10. Before we take the current level of VIX as a sell signal, however, we might consider that VIX was as low as 9.89 on 1/24/07, nearly 10 months before the final tops in the price indexes. VIX is a market estimate of expected constant 30-day volatility, calculated by weighting S&P 500 Index CBOE option bid/ask quotes spanning a wide range of strike prices for the two nearest expiration dates.

The Dow Theory reconfirmed a Primary Tide Bull Market as of 12/14/10, when the Dow-Jones Industrial Average closed above 2-year closing price highs, thereby confirming the new high in the Dow-Jones Transportation Average set on 12/10/10. The Dow Theory originally signaled the current Primary Tide Bull Market on 7/23/09, when both the Dow-Jones Industrial Average and the Dow-Jones Transportation Average closed above their closing price highs of the previous 6 months. Many other analysts were fooled into calling “Bear Market” by the big downside Secondary Reaction in May and June 2010, but my interpretation has been steadily Bullish on the Primary Trend.

S&P 500 Composite rose to another new 2-year high, thereby reconfirming its preexisting major uptrend. Over the past few weeks, SPX tested and held above 1173.00, the low of 11/16/10, and the 50-day SMA now at 1205.66 and rising. And SPX held well above the 200-day SMA, now at 1143.21 and rising.

S&P 500 Cash Index Potential Resistance
1576.09, high of 10/11/2007
1552.76, high of 10/31/2007
1523.57, high of 12/11/2007
1498.85, high of 12/26/2007
1440.24, high of 5/19/2008
1406.32, high of 5/29/2008
1381.50, Fibonacci 78.6% of 2007-2009 range
1366.59, high of 6/17/2008
1335.63, high of 6/25/2008
1313.15, high of 8/11/2008
1274.42, high of 9/8/2008

S&P 500 Cash Index Potential Support
1238.81, Fibonacci 78.6% of 1,576.09 high
1235.05, high of 12/7/10
1232.85, low of 12/16/10
1228.74, Fibonacci 61.8% of 2007-2009 range
1173.00, low of 11/16/10
1171.70, low of 10/27/10
1166.74, low of 10/20/10
1159.71, low of 10/19/10
1,151.41, low of 10/7/10
1,131.87, low of 10/4/10
1122.79, low of 9/23/2010
1114.63, low of 9/15/2010
1110.88, low of 9/10/2010
1091.15, low of 9/7/2010
1039.70, low of 8/27/10
1039.31, Fibonacci 23.6% of June-Aug. 2010 range
1010.91, low of 7/1/2010
1008.55, Fibonacci 38.2% of 2009-2010 range
991.97, low of 9/2/2009
978.51, low of 8/17/2009
956.23, high of 6/11/2009
943.29, Gann 50.0% of 2009-2010 range
878.04, Fibonacci 61.8% of 2009-2010 range
874.17, Gann 62.5% of 2009-2010 range
869.32, low of 7/8/2009
805.17, Gann 75.0% of 2009-2010 range
785.13, Fibonacci 78.6% of 2009-2010 range
666.79, intraday low of 3/6/2009

One-Day Ranking of Major ETFs, Ranked from Strongest to Weakest of the Day:
% Price Change, ETF Name, Symbol

1.99% Turkey MSCI iS, TUR
1.44% Financial Services DJ, IYG
1.16% Financials VIPERs, VFH
1.11% Financial SPDR, XLF
1.08% Agriculture DB PS, DBA
1.02% Dividend High Yield Equity PS, PEY
1.02% Brazil Index, EWZ
0.91% Oil, Crude, U.S. Oil Fund, USO
0.86% Value SmallCap S&P 600, RZV
0.79% Switzerland Index, EWL
0.77% REIT VIPERs, VNQ
0.76% Realty Cohen & Steers, ICF
0.75% REIT Wilshire, RWR
0.73% Capital Markets KWB ST, KCE
0.70% Financial DJ US, IYF
0.68% WilderHill Clean Energy PS, PBW
0.65% Austria Index, EWO
0.65% Latin Am 40, ILF
0.64% Value S&P 500 B, IVE
0.62% Value VIPERs, VTV
0.60% China LargeCap Growth G D H USX PS, PGJ
0.60% Australia Index, EWA
0.58% Value MidCap S&P 400 B, IJJ
0.57% Thailand MSCI iS, THD
0.56% Energy Global, IXC
0.54% Value LargeCap Dynamic PS, PWV
0.54% Value SmallCap S&P 600 B, IJS
0.53% Homebuilders SPDR, XHB
0.51% Commodity Tracking, DBC
0.50% Pacific ex-Japan, EPP
0.47% Emerging 50 BLDRS, ADRE
0.46% LargeCap Blend S&P 100, OEF
0.45% Utilities SPDR, XLU
0.44% Value SmallCap VIPERS, VBR
0.44% Consumer Staples SPDR, XLP
0.41% Growth EAFE MSCI, EFG
0.41% Financial Preferred, PGF
0.40% Russia MV, RSX
0.40% Canada Index, EWC
0.39% Global 100, IOO
0.37% Dividend SPDR, SDY
0.36% Europe 350 S&P Index, IEV
0.36% S&P 500 iS LargeCap Blend, IVV
0.35% Japan Index, EWJ
0.35% Emerging Markets, EEM
0.35% LargeCap VIPERs, VV
0.34% Energy SPDR, XLE
0.34% Netherlands Index, EWN
0.33% United Kingdom Index, EWU
0.32% Natural Resource iS GS, IGE
0.32% Hong Kong Index, EWH
0.31% S&P 500 SPDRs LargeCap Blend, SPY
0.31% MidCap S&P 400 iS, IJH
0.29% South Korea Index, EWY
0.28% Bond, High-Yield Corporate, HYG
0.28% Health Care SPDR, XLV
0.28% Mexico Index, EWW
0.27% MidCap S&P 400 SPDRs, MDY
0.24% Bond Ex-US Treas, BWX
0.23% DIAMONDS , DIA
0.23% LargeCap Blend S&P=Weight R, RSP
0.23% Bond Muni ATM-Free S&P iS, MUB
0.23% India Earnings WTree, EPI
0.23% Industrial SPDR, XLI
0.23% Singapore Index, EWS
0.21% Global ex US ACWI iS, ACWX
0.20% India PS, PIN
0.19% EAFE Index, EFA
0.18% Value EAFE MSCI, EFV
0.16% Bond EmrgMkt JPM iS, EMB
0.15% Belgium Index, EWK
0.13% Consumer Discretionary SPDR, XLY
0.13% South Africa Index, EZA
0.12% Italy Index, EWI
0.12% Small Cap VIPERs, VB
0.12% Growth S&P 500/BARRA, IVW
0.11% Growth VIPERs, VUG
0.11% Value 1000 Russell, IWD
0.11% Semiconductor iS IGW, SOXX
0.07% Malaysia Index, EWM
0.07% Taiwan Index, EWT
0.06% Biotech SPDR, XBI
0.05% Preferred Stock iS, PFF
0.04% Semiconductor SPDR, XSD
0.03% SmallCap S&P 600, IJR
0.03% Energy DJ, IYE
0.02% Small Cap EAFE MSCI iS, SCZ
0.00% Dividend International, PID
0.00% France Index, EWQ
-0.01% Growth LargeCap NASDAQ 100, QQQQ
-0.02% Bond, 1-3 Year Treasury, SHY
-0.03% Bond Treasury Short-Term iS, SHV
-0.04% Growth MidCap 400 B, IJK
-0.05% Materials SPDR, XLB
-0.06% EMU Europe Index, EZU
-0.06% Networking, IGN
-0.07% Bond, TIPS, TIP
-0.08% Spain Index, EWP
-0.08% Bond, Corp, LQD
-0.12% Bond, Aggregate, AGG
-0.12% Technology SPDR, XLK
-0.12% Germany Index, EWG
-0.13% LargeCap 1000 R, IWB
-0.13% LargeCap Blend Russell 3000, IWV
-0.15% Bond, High-Yield Junk, JNK
-0.15% Blend Total Market VIPERs, VTI
-0.15% Technology DJ US, IYW
-0.16% Value MidCap Russell, IWS
-0.18% Transportation Av DJ, IYT
-0.20% Gold Shares S.T., GLD
-0.23% Growth SmallCap VIPERs, VBK
-0.23% MidCap Russell, IWR
-0.24% Silver Trust iS, SLV
-0.28% Bond, 10 Year Treasury, IEF
-0.28% China 25 iS, FXI
-0.28% Growth 1000 Russell, IWF
-0.28% Dividend Appreciation Vipers, VIG
-0.32% Microcap Russell, IWC
-0.33% Growth BARRA Small Cap 600, IJT
-0.34% Dividend DJ Select, DVY
-0.35% Value SmallCap Russell 2000, IWN
-0.36% Water Resources, PHO
-0.38% Real Estate US DJ, IYR
-0.42% Growth MidCap Russell, IWP
-0.48% SmallCap Russell 2000, IWM
-0.49% Sweden Index, EWD
-0.52% Basic Materials DJ US, IYM
-0.53% Utilities VIPERs, VPU
-0.56% Growth SmallCap R 2000, IWO
-0.57% Metals & Mining SPDR, XME
-0.58% Info Tech VIPERs, VGT
-0.71% Bond, 20+ Years Treasury, TLT
-0.80% Indonesia MV, IDX
-0.89% Energy VIPERs, VDE
-0.92% Telecom DJ US, IYZ
-1.30% Chile MSCI iS, ECH
-1.32% Emerging VIPERs, VWO
-3.62% Pacific VIPERs, VPL
-4.47% European VIPERs, VGK