Nice Drop In Jobless Claims

The market is slightly higher in early trading after a solid jobless claims report, and some positive action out of Europe.

Initial jobless claims for last week came in at 473,000, which is below expectations and also down 31,000 week-over-week. Continuing claims were also lower, another good sign. This is positive for the employment picture, and weakens the double-dip case many are making right now.

Asian markets were mixed overnight, while Europe is higher this morning after a strong debt offering in Ireland. This came despite the news that Ireland had its sovereign credit rating downgraded.

The news in Europe has boosted the euro at the expense of the dollar. Oil prices are higher to $73.25, while gold is flattish near $1237.

Among sector ETFs, materials and industrials are leading, while consumer staples and healthcare are lagging. Financials are holding up well also.

The 10-year yield is a touch higher to 2.54%; and the volatility index is flat near 26.70.

Trading comment: The S&P held support yesterday at 1040 and bounced nicely from there to close positive on the day. I mentioned that the market was oversold and likely due for a bounce. Today, the AAII investor sentiment survey confirmed that bearish sentiment has risen sharply of late, which also supports the case for a further bounce in the market. I have a chart to post on sentiment, which I will put up later.

Looking for stocks that have held up the best during this correction is a good strategy. A few that I am watching that have shown nice relative strength include: SXCI, CMG, FFIV, VMW, ANDE, NFLX, and APKT.

long ANDE, FFIV, VMW