Bears on Friday ran into a firestorm of bullets from big tech companies, states Jon Markman, editor of Strategic Advantage.
The Nasdaq 100 (NDX) soared 2.9%, to close at 11,619. The rally erased all of the losses from the previous two sessions.
The initial shot was fired Thursday evening when executives at Netflix (NFLX) announced the fourth quarter addition of 7.7 million new paid subscribers, far exceeding internal forecasts of 4.5 million. And before the opening, an Alphabet (GOOGL) press release outlined plans to fire 12,000 staff to reduce expenses. Netflix and Alphabet shares added 8.5%, and 5.4%, respectively.
The narrative for big tech is changing away from a profit recession toward future growth. These changes will allow bulls to send stocks much higher, even in the face of current earnings shortfalls. Netflix missed its Q4 earnings per share estimate by a whopping 77%.
I expect the benchmark NDX to move much higher by month's end as bears concede a rally to 12,065, the 200-day moving average. That advance could come in short order as professional money managers scramble to gain exposure to technology stocks. There is critical support at 11,295.
The QQQ Loop: The ProShares Ultra QQQ (QLD) was purchased on January 20 at $37.24, and closed Friday at $39.26, up 5.4%. Set up to sell the QLD at $41.90. Place a new stop loss order at $36.40. If this trade works, the potential gain is +12.5. The potential downside risk is -2.3%.
