ETFs Move Higher, S&P 500 Breaks 1500

US ETFs and stocks put in another powerful week to overcome the continuing sell off in Apple (AAPL) and close above the psychologically and technically important level of 1500 in the S&P 500 (SPY).

Friday’s close marks the highest close for the S&P 500 (SPY) in five years and leaves the index just below its nominal all-time high.

For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) gained 1.8%, the S&P 500 (SPY) added 1.1% and the Nasdaq (QQQ) climbed 0.6%.

Apple (AAPL) fell farther on Friday and gave up its number one spot to Exxon as largest company by market cap.

On My ETF Radar
A quick glance at the chart of the S&P 500 (SPY) shows us that the index is at overbought levels of 74.41 on RSI, however, momentum is quite positive, as depicted by MACD, the trend is strongly positive and the 50 and 200-day moving averages have turned higher, as well.

Support is at 1450-1470 which could provide a floor when the inevitable correction begins to take shape. Overbought readings and excessively bullish sentiment point to an overextended market that is due for a pause or pullback within the context of a powerful uptrend.

ETF News You Can Really Use
Last week saw positive news from home prices and improving weekly unemployment claims. Purchasing Managers Indexes from around the world came in positive as Germany and China surprised to the upside, and December’s U.S. leading economic indicators rose 0.5%.

On the negative side of the ledger, weak reports have come from the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond, New York and Philadelphia which indicate a decline in manufacturing activity in the eastern regions of the United States. This corresponds to declining University of Michigan Consumer Confidence while new home sales for December fell 7.3%.

Other than Apple, (AAPL) earnings reports were relatively positive last week and the coming week’s major earnings reports include the likes of Exxon (XOM), Caterpillar (CAT), Yahoo (YHOO) and Amazon (AMZN).

The week ahead also brings a wave of economic reports including durable goods and pending home sales on Monday, Case Shiller housing price index and consumer confidence on Tuesday, ADP employment, GDP and the FOMC meeting on Wednesday, weekly jobless claims, spending, income and Chicago PMI on Thursday, and Friday wraps up a big week with January Unemployment, Nonfarm Payrolls and Markit PMI.

Bottom line: ETFs and stocks continue to dazzle as they break through resistance levels and now push towards new all time highs. Extreme resistance lies ahead and so U.S. ETFs and stocks stand at a pivotal turning point as they attempt to break higher. A successful breach of these levels could yield to continuation of the recent advance while failure here could set the stage for a significant decline.

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