Tech Talk for Tuesday May 13th 2008

Tech Talk for Tuesday May 13^th 2008

Pre-opening Comments for Tuesday May 13^th

9:00 AM EDT: U.S. equity index futures are improving from deficit levels this morning. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures recovered from down 50 points prior to the release of April retail sales to a gain of 35 points. Consensus for April retail sales was no change. Actual was a decline of 0.2%. Consensus for April retail sales ex autos was a gain of 0.2%. Actual was a gain of 0.5%.

Wal-mart reported first quarter earnings in line with consensus. However, the company also offered second quarter guidance that was less than consensus. Its share price is slightly lower in overnight trading. The stock has a positive technical profile. Intermediate trend is up. The stock trades above its 50 and 200 day moving average. Strength relative to the S&P 500 Index remains positive.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com www.stockcharts.com

Cameco reported first quarter earnings slightly less than consensus. Consensus was $0.40 versus $0.14 per share last year. Actual earnings were $0.39 per share. Cameco has a positive technical profile. The stock recently broke above resistance at $40, completed a base building pattern and established an intermediate uptrend.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com www.stockcharts.com

Hewlett Packard confirmed overnight that it is negotiating a possible purchase of EDS. EDS rose sharply and Hewlett Packard weakened yesterday prior to their halt on rumors of the takeover.

Technical Action Yesterday

Technical action by S&P 500 stocks was bullish yesterday. Five S&P 500 stocks broke resistance and two stocks broke support.

S&P 500 stocks breaking resistance

Stock Symbol Previous New

Trend Trend News

Electronic Data EDS Neutral Up Halted. HPW takeover rumor

Heinz HNZ Up Up

Integrys Energy TEG Down Up

InterActive IACI Down Up

Loews LTR Neutral Up

S&P 500 stocks breaking support

Stock Symbol Previous New

Trend Trend

Amer. Int’l Group AIG Down Down

UPS UPS Up Down

Technical action by TSX Composite stocks was mixed yesterday. Two TSX stocks broke resistance and two stocks broke support.

TSX Composite stocks breaking resistance

Stock Symbol Previous New

Trend Trend

CAE CAE Up Up

Emera EMA Neutral Up

TSX Composite stocks breaking support

Stock Symbol Previous New

Trend Trend

Saputo SAP Up Neutral

Vanguard VRS Down Down

Pre-opening Comments for Monday May 12^th

(Charts have been updated to yesterday’s close)

9:10 AM EDT: U.S. equity index futures are rising this morning. Dow Industrial Average futures are up 28 points. Much of the strength can be attributed to strength in the U.S. Dollar. Commodity prices are reacting to strength in the U.S. Dollar. Crude oil, unleaded gasoline, gold, copper and silver are trading lower.

Encana is expected to open higher this morning following news that the company plans to split into two companies early next year. One company will focus on oil production and refining. The other company will focus on natural gas production. Encana has a positive technical profile. Intermediate trend is up. The stock trades above its 50 and 200 day moving average. Strength relative to the TSX Composite Index and S&P 500 Index remains positive. The stock is expected to open above resistance at its all time high at $88.06.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com www.stockcharts.com

Research in Motion is expected to open at another all time high this morning following a series of news events over the weekend. The company announced plans for its next Blackberry called Bold. It announced plans to launch its Blackberry service in South Korea. It also announced a research program to be shared by Royal Bank and Thomson Reuters. Research in Motion has a favourable technical profile. Intermediate trend is up. The stock trades above its 50 and 200 day moving average. Strength relative to the TSX Composite Index and the S&P 500 Index has been positive during the past three months.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com www.stockcharts.com

WestJet also is expected to open higher this morning following news that it plans to add a fuel surcharge to ticket prices. WestJet has an improving technical profile. The stock recently found support just below $16.00. Short term momentum indicators (MACD, RSI and Stochastics) are recovering from short term oversold levels.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com www.stockcharts.com

Interesting Charts

Strength in Encana and Research in Motion was the main reason for the move by the TSX Composite Index to an all time high yesterday on a break out above 14,646.82.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com www.stockcharts.com

Strength in U.S. equity markets yesterday can be attributed at least partially to weakness in crude oil prices and oil stock prices. Energy SPDRs peaked three weeks ago. Oil Service HOLDRs also peaked three weeks ago.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com www.stockcharts.com

ETF News

The value of ETFs listed on U.S. exchanges rose $22.9 billion in the month of April. Total value at the end of April was $595 billion. Sixteen ETFs were launched in April. Total number of U.S. listed ETFs is 659.

Following is a summary of the most actively traded ETFs in April.

Figure 6: Top US ETFs by Trading Volume (AS OF APRIL 30, 2008)

ETF	TICKER	AVERAGE DAILY VOLUME (MILLIONS OF SHARES)	AVERAGE DAILY DOLLAR VOLUME (MM)
S&P 500 SPDR	SPY	177	$24,537
Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock	QQQQ	117	$5,542
iShares Russell 2000	IWM	58	$4,139
Financial Select Sector SPDR	XLF	95	$2,528
iShares MSCI EM	EEM	14	$2,059
Energy Select Sector SPDR	XLE	20	$1,671
Dow Diamonds - DJIA	DIA	13	$1,656
Ultrashort QQQ Proshares	QID	30	$1,285
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index	FXI	8	$1,240
iShares MSCI-Brazil	EWZ	12	$1,089

· The top three US ETFs in terms of assets were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], the iShares MSCI EAFE Fund [EFA], and the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF [EEM].

Figure 7: Top US ETFs by Assets (AS OF APRIL 30, 2008)

ETF	TICKER	ASSETS (MM)	MARKET SHARE (%)
SPDR S&P 500	SPY	$74,912	12.6
iShares MSCI EAFE	EFA	$47,351	8.0
iShares MSCI EM	EEM	$26,377	4.4
iShares S&P 500	IVV	$19,010	3.2
Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock	QQQQ	$17,746	3.0
streetTRACKS Gold Trust	GLD	$16,386	2.8
iShares Russell 1000 Growth	IWF	$13,457	2.3
Vanguard Total Stock Market	VTI	$10,416	1.8
iShares Lehman 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund	SHY	$9,303	1.6
Dow Diamonds - DJIA	DIA	$9,212	1.5

ETF Short Interest

· Aggregate short interest changed little in the US ETF market, comprising approximately 20% of total assets compared to 21% last month.

Disclosure: Mr. Vialoux does not own securities mentioned in this report.

Disclaimer: Comments and opinions offered in this report are for information only. They should not be considered as advice to purchase or to sell mentioned securities. Data offered in this report is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed.