Markets put together back to back gains Wednesday with both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 advancing .7%, a very good showing considering Tuesdays outsized gains. Remember bull markets are ones that give you the feeling you will never be let in. Today it was the energy and materials group which acted the best, after they were the 2 worst performers Tuesday (the old adage is trends tend to persist rather than reverse, but we have been range bound for almost a year now). It was the financials that were the only other major S&P sector to rise close to 1%, and the laggards today hailed from the most defensive of groups being the utilities (utilities were the only group to fall Wednesday) and staples. The S&P 500 is readying itself to a test of the round 2100 figure, a number it has CLOSED above only twice all year on 4/19-20. Speaking of the round numbers there are a couple vehicles that are grappling with them at the moment. First is crude with the very round 50 figure and AAPL with the 100 handle. If oil is able to break through and hold there is chatter that more names will be able to access the capital markets (PE did so yesterday). AAPL looks likely to break through 100 and fill in a gap to the upside from 4/25 just before the latest earnings report. AAPL and some out of favor names, notably in tech, have become investable again. QCOM fits that bill. Of course it is among the semiconductor group, some say it is just a law firm, and its inclusion in the sector will help lift its share price alone. Technically it has improved as well. Talk is cheap, and PRICE action speaks and QCOM has backed it up. Below is the chart which shows its bullish scenario now trading above its 200 day SMA for the first time since late ’14.

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